1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:08,201 This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find disturbing. 2 00:00:08,201 --> 00:00:10,360 Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,561 is on a mission to investigate the science of killing. 4 00:00:16,681 --> 00:00:18,920 It's a hell of a start, God! 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:20,440 Oh, my God! 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,961 He wants to find a method that is unquestionably humane, 7 00:00:24,961 --> 00:00:29,840 and to do so he will delve into one of the darkest areas of science. 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,121 It's really tantamount to torture in my view. 9 00:00:33,121 --> 00:00:39,361 His aim is to try to understand what it feels like to die by execution. 10 00:00:39,361 --> 00:00:42,681 Probably a bit like having the combined pain of a heart attack 11 00:00:42,681 --> 00:00:44,560 and asphyxiation at the same time. 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,721 My basic attitude is, "So they suffer a little pain, who cares?" 13 00:00:50,321 --> 00:00:54,720 In his quest, Michael will undergo a set of unique experiments. 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,560 Oh, my head is quite heavy. 15 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,721 Now my peripheral is going, I'm going grey. 16 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,121 He will push his body to the brink of death. 17 00:01:07,121 --> 00:01:09,920 Put up the switches. Put up the switches. 18 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,160 Put up the switches or you will die. 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,721 All because of one fundamental belief. 20 00:01:19,721 --> 00:01:21,401 If the state kills people, 21 00:01:21,401 --> 00:01:25,160 we want to do it as humanely as possible. I think most people agree. 22 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,800 55 countries in the world use execution as the ultimate punishment. 23 00:01:44,921 --> 00:01:50,641 The killing of prisoners has long been the cause of great controversy. 24 00:01:50,641 --> 00:01:56,440 As a politician, Michael Portillo debated the issue time and again. 25 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,561 I have a pretty chequered history on the death penalty. 26 00:01:59,561 --> 00:02:03,721 When I went into politics in the '80s, I voted in favour of the death penalty, 27 00:02:03,721 --> 00:02:09,561 and then in the '90s I voted against it. And it wasn't really 28 00:02:09,561 --> 00:02:11,600 a fundamental change about the issue. 29 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,401 It was just that at that time there were a lot of miscarriages of justice, 30 00:02:15,401 --> 00:02:19,241 and I thought, "You can't be killing people if you're not certain whether 31 00:02:19,241 --> 00:02:20,920 "they did it or not." 32 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,441 The problem's not just about whether the death penalty is right or wrong. 33 00:02:24,441 --> 00:02:27,001 It's also about how it's carried out. 34 00:02:27,001 --> 00:02:32,441 Recently, firing squads have been deemed unreliable by the Vietnamese government. 35 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:36,560 A botched hanging in Iraq 36 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:41,120 led to Saddam Hussein's half-brother being decapitated. 37 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,920 There's great controversy about whether the methods that are used 38 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,120 are humane, whether they cause pain or not, and I think, 39 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,561 "How difficult can it be at the beginning of the 21st century 40 00:02:52,561 --> 00:02:56,640 "for science to come up with a way of killing people that is humane?" 41 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:01,841 And so that's what I'm looking into, a humane way of executing people. 42 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,641 Michael is heading to America, 43 00:03:05,641 --> 00:03:09,600 where its primary method of execution is also in crisis. 44 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,321 All lethal injections in the state of Florida, all death penalty cases 45 00:03:16,321 --> 00:03:18,801 put on hold by the governor. 46 00:03:18,801 --> 00:03:22,681 California has postponed executions by lethal injection. 47 00:03:22,681 --> 00:03:25,960 The Supreme Court takes up the controversy over lethal injection, 48 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,440 which some say can cause excruciating pain. 49 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,321 Michael wants to find out if the lethal injection 50 00:03:37,321 --> 00:03:42,320 is scientifically sound or torture disguised as a medical procedure. 51 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,320 Good morning. Yes, sir. 52 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,441 My name is Michael Portillo, I've come to see Warden Cain. 53 00:03:48,441 --> 00:03:50,920 He's come to Angola Penitentiary 54 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,680 in Louisiana, the largest maximum-security prison in the US. 55 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:10,080 The vast majority of prisoners at Angola are violent offenders serving life sentences. 56 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,401 Over 70% will die here. 57 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,600 On the left, this is a visiting room... 58 00:04:18,201 --> 00:04:22,201 Warden Bill Cain has overseen the execution of six people at Angola 59 00:04:22,201 --> 00:04:24,760 and is well versed in the process. 60 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:30,361 Here we are... This is the actual chamber, right here. 61 00:04:30,361 --> 00:04:34,080 Warden, you... you do feel like a chill 62 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:35,921 going down your spine, don't you? 63 00:04:35,921 --> 00:04:39,401 You really do, especially for the first time, but I'm going to be... 64 00:04:39,401 --> 00:04:42,961 Do you still get that feeling? No, I don't get it any more, but... 65 00:04:42,961 --> 00:04:47,800 You've had it, though, right? I have. OK, so what we have... 66 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:52,400 These are intravenous lines, so this is going to go in his left arm, 67 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,321 and then you have one that's going to go in the right arm. 68 00:04:55,321 --> 00:04:58,441 And the reason that I want two is because the worst thing 69 00:04:58,441 --> 00:05:01,520 would be to lose the vein, or the IV not work after 70 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,801 you're in the process, and then you have a real mess here on your hands. 71 00:05:05,801 --> 00:05:08,401 So with two, you have two sets of drugs, 72 00:05:08,401 --> 00:05:10,880 and then if one were to fail, you have the other. 73 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,521 Warden Cain believes he's compassionate to the prisoners 74 00:05:14,521 --> 00:05:17,560 in his efforts to ensure a smooth execution, 75 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:23,840 but state regulations means that the procedure is carried out by technicians rather than doctors. 76 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:28,081 Then I'm going to open the door and the EMTs are going to come in here. 77 00:05:28,081 --> 00:05:30,720 What are they? Emergency medical technicians. 78 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,240 We don't use doctors or nurses because of the Hippocratic oath. 79 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,881 That being the oath that any doctor gives to preserve life. 80 00:05:37,881 --> 00:05:41,480 Yeah, the doctors give an oath to do no harm. To do no harm. 81 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,281 And so therefore, we don't ask them to do it. 82 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,601 Coroner and eyewitness reports from across America suggest that 83 00:05:51,601 --> 00:05:56,720 this widespread lack of expertise can result in painful deaths. 84 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,921 December 13th 2006, Angel Diaz. 85 00:06:00,921 --> 00:06:04,120 After the first injection was given, Mr Diaz continued to move 86 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,440 and was squinting and grimacing as he tried to mouth words. 87 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,121 The medical examiner stated that the needle had gone through Mr Diaz's 88 00:06:12,121 --> 00:06:16,040 vein and out the other side, so the deadly chemicals were injected into 89 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,440 soft tissue rather than the vein. 90 00:06:20,081 --> 00:06:22,601 Michael is meeting Dr Jay Chapman, 91 00:06:22,601 --> 00:06:27,321 the man who actually invented the lethal injection procedure. 92 00:06:27,321 --> 00:06:30,881 He believes some ill-trained technicians are undermining 93 00:06:30,881 --> 00:06:33,481 the credibility of its invention. 94 00:06:33,481 --> 00:06:35,520 As I once characterised it, 95 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,801 one never imagined that idiots would be doing this procedure. 96 00:06:39,801 --> 00:06:42,841 Who are the idiots? Well, people that, for instance, 97 00:06:42,841 --> 00:06:47,240 have inserted an intravenous needle toward the hand rather than toward the body. 98 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,041 Nobody would ever inject a needle that way but... But somebody did? 99 00:06:51,041 --> 00:06:54,720 I understood that in one execution, this is exactly what happened. 100 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:59,840 If the protocol is carried out as it should be, there absolutely 101 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:01,521 will be no sensation of pain. 102 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:08,640 Dr Chapman's lethal injection was adapted from a standard surgical procedure. 103 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,481 It uses three drugs. 104 00:07:11,481 --> 00:07:14,801 The first of these was an extremely commonly used drug 105 00:07:14,801 --> 00:07:18,481 to induce unconsciousness for the introduction of anaesthesia. 106 00:07:18,481 --> 00:07:22,721 The second drug which was specified was a muscular paralytic agent. 107 00:07:22,721 --> 00:07:25,440 This is used in surgery so that 108 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,000 muscles do not react as the knife is used or the procedure is done. 109 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:33,681 And the third drug induces cardiac arrest. 110 00:07:33,681 --> 00:07:37,920 Given that you believe that sometimes the process is carried out by 111 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,760 what you call idiots, could it then cause pain to the prisoner? 112 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,521 Yes, it could, but my basic attitude is, 113 00:07:44,521 --> 00:07:47,360 "So they suffer a little pain, who cares?" 114 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,760 It's not... It's not horrific pain, 115 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,960 it's not excruciating pain in my opinion, so who cares? 116 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,680 But not everyone agrees with Dr Chapman's assessment, 117 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:06,240 particularly because a lack of expertise may not be the only source of pain. 118 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,240 In fact, a much bigger controversy centres on the second drug 119 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:15,521 in the cocktail, the paralysing agent pancuronium bromide. 120 00:08:15,521 --> 00:08:18,080 When was your operation? January 24th... 121 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,561 Carol Weihrer knows better than anyone what this drug feels like. 122 00:08:21,561 --> 00:08:26,040 During a routine eye operation, she suddenly became fully conscious 123 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,960 while the paralytic was injected into her body. 124 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:35,001 I was given the short-acting anaesthesia, 125 00:08:35,001 --> 00:08:37,041 then became completely aware, 126 00:08:37,041 --> 00:08:41,120 and I received two separate doses of the second drug, 127 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,241 the pancuronium bromide, 128 00:08:43,241 --> 00:08:47,881 which feels like ignited jet fuel going through your body. 129 00:08:47,881 --> 00:08:54,520 You feel like you're absolutely on fire, it is...excruciating. 130 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,481 You're trapped in a dead body, you can't move, you can't do anything. 131 00:09:00,121 --> 00:09:05,041 Carol has been a key witness in 15 court cases against the lethal injection. 132 00:09:05,041 --> 00:09:08,401 She believes most executed inmates go through 133 00:09:08,401 --> 00:09:10,721 the same experience as she did. 134 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:22,720 The anaesthetic they're using is the short-acting, five-minute version. 135 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:27,040 A lethal injection takes between ten and 12 minutes on a good day, 136 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:35,401 and I feel very seriously that most of those inmates may be put out 137 00:09:35,401 --> 00:09:40,600 for a couple of minutes, and then they're paralysed and conscious 138 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,440 and feeling that pancuronium bromide go through their system, 139 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,240 and if they do, they're on fire and they can't breathe, 140 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,601 and they die from suffocation before their heart is ever stopped. 141 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:00,881 Carol gave a very moving testimony about the pain she suffered from pancuronium, 142 00:10:00,881 --> 00:10:03,721 the prisoners suffer that. 143 00:10:03,721 --> 00:10:08,160 It's a possibility which the American courts take seriously, so... 144 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,200 the lethal injection...is questioned. 145 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,281 So it can't be the perfect killing method. 146 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,800 To find a more humane device, Michael will investigate the science 147 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,840 behind other methods of execution still used in the US today - 148 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,121 the gas chamber, hanging and the electric chair. 149 00:10:36,601 --> 00:10:38,441 Could one of the alternatives be 150 00:10:38,441 --> 00:10:40,800 a better solution than the lethal injection? 151 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:54,361 Hanging is carried out in Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore 152 00:10:54,361 --> 00:10:57,001 and is still available in two states in America. 153 00:10:59,281 --> 00:11:02,720 Michael has come to a crash-test lab in Bedfordshire 154 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,080 to meet professor of medical engineering Len Nokes, 155 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,601 an expert in the mechanics of hanging. 156 00:11:08,601 --> 00:11:10,640 Just walk over here, Michael. 157 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,880 I thought you'd find this interesting, recognise the shirt? 158 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,400 It's my shirt, you've made him look like me. 159 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,841 I would say he's roughly your weight, 160 00:11:18,841 --> 00:11:20,840 and what we'd like to do is hang him. 161 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,680 So would you mind putting the noose round your own neck? 162 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,281 I don't have much experience of this, I'm afraid. 163 00:11:27,281 --> 00:11:29,641 Well, just slot it on top first and...yeah. 164 00:11:31,681 --> 00:11:35,761 Short-drop hanging was the standard form of execution 165 00:11:35,761 --> 00:11:38,120 up until the late 19th century. 166 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,681 Prisoners were dropped from a very short height 167 00:11:40,681 --> 00:11:43,881 and were slowly strangled to death. 168 00:11:43,881 --> 00:11:48,800 But then the British developed a method designed to be more humane. 169 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:54,961 I'm going to show you the science, or supposed science, behind British hanging. 170 00:11:54,961 --> 00:11:59,200 They constructed a table about 1886, and this is it. 171 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:04,081 Now, if we were going to hang you, Michael, using this table, 172 00:12:04,081 --> 00:12:06,080 I need to know what your weight is. 173 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,041 About 200 pounds. 174 00:12:08,041 --> 00:12:12,881 200, easy, 200 pounds, let's go for 196 pounds. That's very kind. 175 00:12:12,881 --> 00:12:18,880 Look across, and we have to now drop you through a height of 6'5". 176 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:23,561 The experiment is looking to deliver an instantaneous and humane death 177 00:12:23,561 --> 00:12:26,801 by completing the hangman's fracture. 178 00:12:26,801 --> 00:12:34,080 The classic hangman's fracture happens between the second and third cervical vertebra. 179 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,600 The idea is that you fracture that joint, and you pull them all apart, 180 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,280 and by disrupting the joint like that, 181 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,081 you cause damage to the spinal cord and the brain stem. 182 00:12:45,081 --> 00:12:47,761 Very important, because if the brain stem 183 00:12:47,761 --> 00:12:52,880 is damaged in any way, it controls your heartbeat and your breathing. 184 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,360 Even if it doesn't snap the spinal cord, it just tugs it violently, 185 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,561 there's a good chance that that will stop your heart? Correct. 186 00:13:01,201 --> 00:13:05,760 With the aid of hi-tech slow-motion cameras, Professor Nokes can now 187 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:10,520 analyse the effects of the drop on the body and conclude whether or not 188 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,441 British hanging is indeed humane. 189 00:13:13,441 --> 00:13:15,160 Phil? 190 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:19,161 Three, two, one, release. 191 00:13:20,201 --> 00:13:22,041 Wow! That's a lot of energy. 192 00:13:22,041 --> 00:13:25,481 That's a lot of energy. 193 00:13:25,481 --> 00:13:28,960 The body comes down a long, long way. 194 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,360 Oh, my goodness... It nearly takes the head off there, doesn't it? 195 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,560 It lifts this head all the way... 196 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:37,760 That's a perfect illustration. 197 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,360 I would be highly surprised if you didn't get the necessary damage 198 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:45,601 to the cervical cord and the brain stem, given what I've just seen. 199 00:13:45,601 --> 00:13:49,040 So we've found a humane way of killing people? Well... 200 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,881 If we could do that 100% of the time, the answer to that 201 00:13:51,881 --> 00:13:55,561 would be yes, but that doesn't always happen, 202 00:13:55,561 --> 00:13:59,281 because it depends on the anatomy of the individual. Right. 203 00:13:59,281 --> 00:14:02,041 You and I have different neck sizes. 204 00:14:02,041 --> 00:14:03,920 We have different muscle bulk. 205 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,040 We may weigh the same, but our anatomy is totally different. 206 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,640 But there is one way to guarantee immediate death, 207 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:13,721 and that's to extend the rope length. 208 00:14:13,721 --> 00:14:18,121 Professor Nokes's team has adjusted the dummy's metal neck 209 00:14:18,121 --> 00:14:21,281 to demonstrate the effect this would have on the human spine. 210 00:14:23,401 --> 00:14:26,441 I've added this amount of drop, that's all. 211 00:14:26,441 --> 00:14:30,961 Three, two, one, release. 212 00:14:30,961 --> 00:14:35,681 Oh, God! Oh! 213 00:14:35,681 --> 00:14:37,561 That is foul. 214 00:14:37,561 --> 00:14:43,841 Dear, oh dear... And that's with just a couple of feet more on the drop height. 215 00:14:43,841 --> 00:14:49,361 I think in slow motion, it'll even be more spectacular. 216 00:14:49,361 --> 00:14:51,040 Wow. 217 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,360 It just takes the head off so... 218 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,081 It's just completing the fracture of the vertebra. 219 00:14:56,081 --> 00:14:57,760 It rips everything apart. 220 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:02,361 This is what happened to Saddam Hussein's brother, presumably? I believe so. 221 00:15:04,441 --> 00:15:07,121 Hanging is so dependent 222 00:15:07,121 --> 00:15:11,401 on individual physiology that there have been cases of decapitation 223 00:15:11,401 --> 00:15:13,920 even with the use of the British table. 224 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:15,801 To complicate matters further, 225 00:15:15,801 --> 00:15:20,041 different countries use different tables to calculate the rope's length. 226 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,761 I just want to show you the differences 227 00:15:28,761 --> 00:15:32,921 between the American and the British tables. 228 00:15:32,921 --> 00:15:36,561 Right, so these are people of the same weight, and you're saying that 229 00:15:36,561 --> 00:15:39,640 the Americans would hang him... what, two feet longer? 230 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,241 That's right. 231 00:15:41,241 --> 00:15:43,200 We've already seen the difference 232 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:48,441 that two foot can make to the drop height and the consequences. Yeah. 233 00:15:48,441 --> 00:15:52,120 Which one of these is the correct one? 234 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,121 You tell me. 235 00:15:54,121 --> 00:15:56,840 I can't, and I'm the scientist. 236 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,200 There is an extreme lack of science in these two tables. 237 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,241 You're telling me that even in the 21st century, 238 00:16:03,241 --> 00:16:08,081 with all our scientific knowledge, we couldn't devise a foolproof table. 239 00:16:08,081 --> 00:16:10,160 There's too many variables, 240 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:16,320 too many, and I just don't think we could ever produce a perfect table. 241 00:16:19,921 --> 00:16:24,760 Methods of execution have always mirrored the scientific advances of the age. 242 00:16:27,961 --> 00:16:30,240 At the end of the 19th century, 243 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,001 a revolutionary technological development 244 00:16:33,001 --> 00:16:36,680 was vital to the creation of the iconic symbol of execution. 245 00:16:40,721 --> 00:16:43,601 Thomas Edison, the father of electricity, 246 00:16:43,601 --> 00:16:47,120 was locked in a bitter battle with rival George Westinghouse 247 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,321 for control of the emerging electrical utility industry. 248 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,160 Edison wanted to show the world that his rival's system, 249 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,521 based on an alternating current, was a danger to the public. 250 00:16:59,521 --> 00:17:03,521 And to prove it, he electrocuted a circus elephant. 251 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,120 Edison's scheming went further. 252 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:15,320 He got his researchers to develop an electric chair using Westinghouse's 253 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:20,320 AC system and recommended it to be used to kill criminals, 254 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,200 the electric chair was born. 255 00:17:24,961 --> 00:17:28,081 Today it's still available in ten American states 256 00:17:28,081 --> 00:17:32,081 and was last used as recently as September 2007. 257 00:17:37,001 --> 00:17:41,161 Despite its ongoing use, there is no clear scientific study 258 00:17:41,161 --> 00:17:44,281 on the electrocution effects on the prisoner. 259 00:17:44,281 --> 00:17:47,921 This may be a little messy, so if you want to put on these... 260 00:17:47,921 --> 00:17:51,200 So Michael is meeting high-voltage specialist Nick Field 261 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:56,281 to reproduce the conditions seen during an electric-chair execution. 262 00:17:56,281 --> 00:18:01,681 Forensic pathologist Peter Vanezis is an expert in electrical injuries 263 00:18:01,681 --> 00:18:05,681 and will analyse the effect it produces on the body. 264 00:18:05,681 --> 00:18:08,800 So you've seen a lot of dead bodies in your time. 265 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,680 I'm afraid so, yes. Everything from ordinary coroner's cases 266 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,560 to criminal events, deaths in custody. 267 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,401 Yes. All that kind of stuff. 268 00:18:17,401 --> 00:18:19,321 Just give me a hand? Sure. 269 00:18:19,321 --> 00:18:24,080 Nick is using the next best thing to the human body to carry out the experiment. 270 00:18:28,361 --> 00:18:31,321 Hell's teeth! 271 00:18:31,321 --> 00:18:35,761 A pig is actually the closest in nature to human physiology. 272 00:18:35,761 --> 00:18:39,560 This is about the same weight as a lightish man or a typical woman 273 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,560 and an excellent test subject in most ways. 274 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,520 What is the current that you apply in an electric chair, an electrocution? 275 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,361 In this case, the shock is 2,450 volts. 276 00:18:50,361 --> 00:18:52,721 2,000...? 450. 277 00:18:54,801 --> 00:18:58,801 God... I mean, a plug at home is what, 240? 278 00:18:58,801 --> 00:19:01,600 Yes, it's approximately ten times. Good Lord above. 279 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:06,400 In a typical electric chair, you're connected in three places. 280 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,081 Your head and two clamps around either your ankles or your calves. 281 00:19:13,801 --> 00:19:19,360 This is a saturated salt solution, and these are natural sponges. 282 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,361 Why brine? 283 00:19:21,361 --> 00:19:24,960 Brine is much more conductive than pure water. 284 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,440 And this is what the prisoner would feel. 285 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,761 He would feel a hat being stuffed on his head full of wet sponges. 286 00:19:30,761 --> 00:19:32,480 Yes. 287 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,240 Just as in a real electrocution, 288 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,561 the subject will receive an electric shock for 15 seconds. 289 00:19:40,241 --> 00:19:43,361 LOUD FIZZING 290 00:19:43,361 --> 00:19:46,481 Hell of a lot of flaming here at the feet. 291 00:19:46,481 --> 00:19:48,361 It must be all the fat around the... 292 00:19:48,361 --> 00:19:50,001 Nothing at the head yet. 293 00:19:50,001 --> 00:19:52,520 Not yet, no. 294 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,641 Hell of a smell of burning now, a lot of smoke. 295 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,600 So...he'd be dead by now. 296 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,721 Maybe he'd be dead. We're not sure yet, to be honest with you. 297 00:20:04,721 --> 00:20:07,280 Some people have survived longer. 298 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,680 I mean, that's the whole point of giving them 299 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:11,961 more than two or three shocks sometimes. 300 00:20:11,961 --> 00:20:16,480 But doesn't 2,400 volts just stop your heart? 301 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:21,481 Well, the problem is the effect on the heart can vary quite a bit. 302 00:20:21,481 --> 00:20:25,201 You can get what's called ventricular fibrillation, 303 00:20:25,201 --> 00:20:27,721 which is the muscle just going into 304 00:20:27,721 --> 00:20:31,480 a very fast spasm, so it may not affect your heart straight away. 305 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,360 It would have other effects on the body such as partial asphyxiation. 306 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:38,441 The point is, if it acts on the muscles and causes spasms, 307 00:20:38,441 --> 00:20:41,960 you won't be able to open and close your chest to breathe. 308 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:49,361 It's standard practice to shock the prisoner several times to ensure death. 309 00:20:49,361 --> 00:20:54,961 In 1990, Jesse Tafero from Florida had to be given three jolts 310 00:20:54,961 --> 00:20:57,680 before he stopped breathing. 311 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,280 Rather than using a natural sponge, 312 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,561 the executioners bought a synthetic one at the local store, 313 00:21:04,561 --> 00:21:07,640 and it proved to be much less conductive. 314 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,121 In this part of the experiment, Nick has adjusted the sponges 315 00:21:12,121 --> 00:21:15,840 to more accurately reflect what happened in Tafero's execution. 316 00:21:17,881 --> 00:21:19,960 Oh, even more crackling... 317 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:21,440 Oh, my...! That is dreadful. 318 00:21:30,001 --> 00:21:33,880 That is dreadful! That is dreadful. 319 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,080 That is appalling. Can you see all the fat running down the pig's face? 320 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,201 Oh, that's foul. 321 00:21:40,201 --> 00:21:42,481 There's the sponge underneath. 322 00:21:42,481 --> 00:21:45,680 Oh, a terrible burning on the snout, Professor. 323 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,321 Yes, you've got a burn there where the rim of the cap was, 324 00:21:49,321 --> 00:21:52,880 and you've also got a burn at the back between the ears and including 325 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,561 the ears as well, and that's very similar to the sort of burn 326 00:21:56,561 --> 00:21:58,521 that you get in a real execution. 327 00:21:58,521 --> 00:22:01,881 So what's happened? Oh, my God, it's gone straight through. 328 00:22:01,881 --> 00:22:04,400 It has, it's basically gone down to the bone. 329 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:09,881 It almost amputated that part of the hoof, really. 330 00:22:09,881 --> 00:22:11,881 Would you imagine that this would be, 331 00:22:11,881 --> 00:22:15,640 in the American terminology, a cruel and unusual punishment? 332 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,481 I think it absolutely is, and it's really tantamount 333 00:22:18,481 --> 00:22:21,241 to torture in my view. Really? Yep. 334 00:22:25,601 --> 00:22:29,440 Michael's obtained a report that shows rare photographs 335 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,601 of an inmate put to death by the electric chair. 336 00:22:35,161 --> 00:22:39,761 After Davis's airflow had been blocked by the mouth strap, 337 00:22:39,761 --> 00:22:41,881 the face mask and his own blood, 338 00:22:41,881 --> 00:22:45,121 Davis made several sounds under the face mask, 339 00:22:45,121 --> 00:22:49,201 which was described variously as muffled screams or yells. 340 00:22:49,201 --> 00:22:52,520 The body was mutilated by burns on the head, face and leg, 341 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,400 and he was covered in blood because blood was pouring out of his nose. 342 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,800 There's no way this is a perfect way of killing people. 343 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,841 It's potentially very painful 344 00:23:03,841 --> 00:23:07,280 and extremely gory for the witnesses, too. 345 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,480 There is one method of execution that could be much less painful 346 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,961 than the electric chair, but only if the prisoner remains calm 347 00:23:18,961 --> 00:23:21,001 and co-operates in their death. 348 00:23:25,841 --> 00:23:28,640 The use of cyanide gas as a killing agent 349 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:33,201 was pioneered on the battlefield during the First World War. 350 00:23:33,201 --> 00:23:38,080 It was then used by the Nazis as part of their genocide programme. 351 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:46,280 It remains available in five states in America. 352 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,281 Sometimes before executions, 353 00:23:50,281 --> 00:23:53,401 the gas chamber is tested using an animal subject. 354 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:00,121 Acid is placed under the chair. 355 00:24:04,441 --> 00:24:10,280 And at the assigned moment, the executioner drops cyanide pellets into the acid, 356 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,721 releasing hydrogen cyanide gas. 357 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,800 The subject dies by asphyxiation. 358 00:24:37,401 --> 00:24:41,681 Michael is meeting biochemistry professor Christopher Cooper 359 00:24:41,681 --> 00:24:43,840 to understand what happens to the body 360 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,841 in a hydrogen cyanide gas chamber. 361 00:24:48,361 --> 00:24:50,921 Our cells require oxygen to make energy, 362 00:24:50,921 --> 00:24:53,521 and each cell has a place where the oxygen 363 00:24:53,521 --> 00:24:57,560 converts and reacts with the food we eat to make energy for the cell. 364 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,440 Cyanide interferes directly with this process. 365 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,601 It binds to exactly the same place where oxygen binds, 366 00:25:03,601 --> 00:25:06,080 so the heart's pumping and lungs are working, 367 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,440 oxygen's getting around, none of the cells can use the oxygen. 368 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,680 Would you be in pain during that period? 369 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,361 It's probably a bit like having the combined pain from a heart attack, 370 00:25:16,361 --> 00:25:19,441 brain seizures and asphyxiation at the same time. 371 00:25:19,441 --> 00:25:22,240 Would there be a way of speeding the process up? 372 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,040 One of the complications is you ask the prisoner 373 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,520 to co-operate in their own death, such that if they breathe 374 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,681 calmly and deeply at the beginning and get as much hydrogen cyanide gas 375 00:25:32,681 --> 00:25:34,481 into their brain as possible, 376 00:25:34,481 --> 00:25:38,281 they get unconscious as quickly as possible and suffer less pain. 377 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,240 Michael wants to find out if it really is possible for prisoners 378 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,760 to remain calm and co-operative in the gas chamber, 379 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,600 so that their moment of death is relatively painless. 380 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,761 What we've got is your personal protective equipment, 381 00:25:59,761 --> 00:26:01,640 which we'll size and fit to you now. 382 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:06,121 Together with a group of volunteers he will be exposed to a non-lethal 383 00:26:06,121 --> 00:26:09,241 but highly noxious gas which provokes a number of similar 384 00:26:09,241 --> 00:26:14,480 bodily reactions to cyanide, its lethal counterpart. 385 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:16,600 Don the respirator, 386 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,800 chin in first. Make sure that the harness is central on the crown. 387 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,481 CS gas is used by the military to simulate chemical attacks, 388 00:26:25,481 --> 00:26:29,600 and, like cyanide, it provokes a terrible irritation to the skin, 389 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:34,601 eyes and lungs, as well as gasping, confusion and vomiting. 390 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,281 To establish that the gas chamber can be reasonably painless, 391 00:26:42,281 --> 00:26:47,240 all Michael has to do is breathe in the noxious gas calmly and deeply 392 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,161 and say his full name and date of birth. 393 00:26:50,161 --> 00:26:53,000 Is everybody OK? OK! 394 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,601 We're now going to be exposed to the CS. 395 00:26:55,601 --> 00:26:58,321 What I want you to do is remain calm, 396 00:26:58,321 --> 00:27:02,561 keep your breathing going as much as possible and keep your eyes open. 397 00:27:02,561 --> 00:27:04,600 Undo the zip of your suit. 398 00:27:06,641 --> 00:27:08,561 Pull back the hood. 399 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,041 One, two, three! 400 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,681 Keep your eyes open. OK, state your name. 401 00:27:16,681 --> 00:27:18,761 COUGHING, CONFUSED MUMBLING 402 00:27:18,761 --> 00:27:20,561 State your name and date of birth. 403 00:27:20,561 --> 00:27:22,400 State your name and date of birth. 404 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,361 State your name and date of birth. INAUDIBLE RESPONSE 405 00:27:25,361 --> 00:27:29,161 State your name and date of birth. Declan Swan, 28th... 406 00:27:29,161 --> 00:27:33,320 State your name and date of birth. Michael Portillo, May...'53. 407 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:39,001 OK, follow the man one behind the other. Keep going. Keep going. 408 00:27:39,001 --> 00:27:40,721 Follow the tape. 409 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,641 Face the opposite direction, so you get the wind coming into your face. 410 00:27:54,641 --> 00:27:57,961 The will to learn the lesson. Deep breaths! 411 00:27:59,561 --> 00:28:02,921 It was completely...horrible. 412 00:28:02,921 --> 00:28:05,920 Stinging. 413 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,440 I couldn't keep my eyes open for a moment, oh... 414 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,320 Eyes are absolutely...messed up. 415 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,161 I found it very difficult to speak, 416 00:28:14,161 --> 00:28:17,000 I couldn't get my whole date of birth out even. 417 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,680 It was great to get out of there. 418 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:20,120 Look at me. 419 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,921 Thank you. 420 00:28:23,921 --> 00:28:25,361 Oh! 421 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,720 I think this experiment... shows that it is pretty unlikely 422 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:37,760 that someone who is asked to breathe in...a killer gas is going to do so 423 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:42,360 calmly, cos the gas I had here was not a killer gas, 424 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,440 but it was an irritant, 425 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,601 and of course, you know, all my intentions of... 426 00:28:48,601 --> 00:28:51,961 breathing in calmly just went straight out of the window, 427 00:28:51,961 --> 00:28:53,960 I just couldn't do it at all. 428 00:29:01,321 --> 00:29:04,480 Michael has now explored all the key methods of execution 429 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,801 still in use in the western world. 430 00:29:06,801 --> 00:29:10,720 So where does that leave the search? 431 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,760 I've been thinking about the criteria 432 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,840 for a perfect killing device based on what I've seen so far. 433 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,880 First of all, it mustn't require any medical expertise, because 434 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,561 doctors don't want to be involved because of their Hippocratic oath. 435 00:29:25,561 --> 00:29:27,640 That rules out the lethal injection, 436 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,840 or, for that matter, any of the methods involved in human euthanasia. 437 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,680 It's got to be a quick and painless death that's guaranteed, 438 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:39,840 which rules out hanging cos it's not guaranteed. 439 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:41,921 It mustn't be gory, 440 00:29:41,921 --> 00:29:46,121 that rules out electrocution. 441 00:29:46,121 --> 00:29:51,000 And...it can't depend on prisoner co-operation, and that rules out gas, 442 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,920 because the prisoner's got to do something which the prisoner can't do. 443 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,241 So basically, erm... Everything is ruled out that I've seen so far. 444 00:30:05,881 --> 00:30:08,920 Michael may be struggling to find an alternative method, 445 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,840 but there are scientists who have long known how to kill humanely. 446 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:22,321 Procedures for the euthanasia of lab animals are rigorously researched. 447 00:30:22,321 --> 00:30:28,281 Dr Bonnie Beaver co-authored America's most significant report on the subject. 448 00:30:28,281 --> 00:30:33,200 Euthanasia is something that we deal with every day. 449 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:38,560 For example, if it's very important to look at brain tissue 450 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,560 in a particular study, we can't obviously then 451 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:47,600 do some kind of euthanasia procedure that's going to damage that tissue. 452 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,961 So we have to look for different options. 453 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,601 One of the options Dr Beaver identified is, in certain animals, 454 00:30:55,601 --> 00:30:57,401 entirely painless. 455 00:30:57,401 --> 00:31:00,201 It's known as hypoxia. 456 00:31:00,201 --> 00:31:05,921 Hypoxia is depriving the brain and other vital structures of oxygen, 457 00:31:05,921 --> 00:31:09,600 and of course, oxygen is needed to support life. 458 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:14,761 But if you're depriving the body of the stuff of life, of air, of oxygen, 459 00:31:14,761 --> 00:31:16,721 how can that not be stressful? 460 00:31:16,721 --> 00:31:20,601 You could interfere with the blood's ability to carry oxygen 461 00:31:20,601 --> 00:31:22,400 to different parts of the body. 462 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,480 But how could that happen, Doctor? 463 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:29,681 I've looked at...cyanide gas in human beings... 464 00:31:29,681 --> 00:31:31,840 OK. ..and it causes immense distress. 465 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:33,721 How could what you say...? 466 00:31:33,721 --> 00:31:37,520 OK, there are a lot of ways that can be used for hypoxia 467 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,921 that are not painful, so there are other alternatives beside cyanide. 468 00:31:41,921 --> 00:31:46,121 So it is possible to create hypoxia 469 00:31:46,121 --> 00:31:48,841 without causing distress? That's correct. 470 00:31:52,561 --> 00:31:56,401 If it's possible to deprive animals of oxygen in a painless way, 471 00:31:56,401 --> 00:31:59,401 then perhaps the same can be done with humans. 472 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,601 At the Royal Netherlands Air Force Physiology Centre, 473 00:32:11,601 --> 00:32:15,361 there's a small group of scientists who routinely take human subjects 474 00:32:15,361 --> 00:32:17,201 to the brink of death using hypoxia. 475 00:32:18,761 --> 00:32:22,321 Dr Ted Meeuwsen trains pilots to survive the constant threat 476 00:32:22,321 --> 00:32:26,081 of this deadly condition when making extreme manoeuvres. 477 00:32:31,201 --> 00:32:33,800 To experience hypoxia for himself, 478 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,280 Michael is going into a human centrifuge. 479 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:43,441 There his body will be subjected to a massive increase in the force of gravity, known as G force. 480 00:32:43,441 --> 00:32:47,961 My God, Ted, am I going in that thing there? 481 00:32:47,961 --> 00:32:50,281 Well, actually, you are. 482 00:32:50,281 --> 00:32:53,921 It's like an enormous spanner with a coffin at one end, isn't it? 483 00:32:53,921 --> 00:32:56,041 So you're going to spin me round in this. 484 00:32:56,041 --> 00:32:58,481 And the blood is...what, going to go to my feet? 485 00:32:58,481 --> 00:33:02,521 Exactly, because the G forces react on the body, you become heavier, 486 00:33:02,521 --> 00:33:05,561 and also the inside of the body becomes heavier, 487 00:33:05,561 --> 00:33:08,720 also the blood becomes heavier. The blood becomes heavier? 488 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,641 Yeah, and in the blood there is the oxygen, right? Sure. 489 00:33:11,641 --> 00:33:14,240 So you don't have enough oxygen then in the head. 490 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,241 So I would...I would pass out and then... 491 00:33:17,241 --> 00:33:19,280 then I would pass away, yeah? Yeah. 492 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:24,121 OK. And you're going to monitor everything that happens to me? 493 00:33:24,121 --> 00:33:26,080 Exactly, and my flight surgeon, 494 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,880 who is also present, will monitor you all the way. 495 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,121 Do you want to see it? No. 496 00:33:31,121 --> 00:33:33,001 I will show you. All right. 497 00:33:33,001 --> 00:33:36,760 HE SPEAKS DUTCH 498 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,960 LOUD WHIRRING 499 00:33:40,281 --> 00:33:43,280 There it is, nine Gs. 500 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,161 So your body becomes nine times more heavier. 501 00:33:47,161 --> 00:33:49,481 That's simply dreadful. 502 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:58,441 When Michael begins to feel hypoxic, he will lose his peripheral vision. 503 00:33:58,441 --> 00:34:00,241 OK, you can step into the gondola. 504 00:34:00,241 --> 00:34:02,120 Right, OK. 505 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,080 Then, seconds away from unconsciousness, 506 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,160 everything he sees will turn grey. 507 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,680 Oh, that is, er... that is very nasty now. 508 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,840 I've got my safety limits, the door's closed, 509 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,320 the operator is ready, and the doctor is also ready. 510 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,881 So if you're ready, you may push the go and keep it there. 511 00:34:26,881 --> 00:34:28,961 Here goes, I'm pressing it. All righty. 512 00:34:32,161 --> 00:34:34,001 Two, one, 513 00:34:34,001 --> 00:34:35,520 and there's your onset. 514 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,281 Describe to us what you are feeling right now. 515 00:34:38,281 --> 00:34:41,280 I'm now feeling a lot of pressure in my body, 516 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,320 I can feel the blood rushing down. 517 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,800 Can you reach your nose with your hand? 518 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,881 Oh, my goodness, my hand weighs a ton, I can just about do that. 519 00:34:49,881 --> 00:34:52,081 That's very, very tough, 520 00:34:52,081 --> 00:34:56,440 the horizon's gone completely, and my arm is being pressed down again now. 521 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,120 I feel very heavy, and I can't keep my head straight. 522 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,280 Oh, my head is going. My legs weigh so much. 523 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,881 How is your vision? My vision is still fine, I can see... but my eyes are getting 524 00:35:08,881 --> 00:35:11,321 very heavy. My vision's still fine, I can see... 525 00:35:11,321 --> 00:35:14,361 I can see peripheral, but it's getting very, very tough. 526 00:35:16,841 --> 00:35:20,121 If Michael continues to spin for another 60 seconds, 527 00:35:20,121 --> 00:35:24,000 the gravity-induced hypoxia will kill him. 528 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,041 Oh, my head is very heavy! 529 00:35:29,041 --> 00:35:33,320 Oh, now my peripheral's going, I'm going grey, going grey! 530 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,040 OK, you may shoot the target now. 531 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,801 I'm squeezing... Squeeze the muscles, squeeze the muscles. 532 00:35:38,801 --> 00:35:42,920 And I'm very, very grey now, I'm tipping forward very, very badly. 533 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,601 Stare at the horizon. 534 00:35:44,601 --> 00:35:48,841 I need to press those muscles, I'm forgetting to press those muscles, 535 00:35:48,841 --> 00:35:50,720 I'm staring at the horizon. Wow! 536 00:35:56,281 --> 00:35:59,240 That... That was extraordinary. 537 00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:03,401 My legs felt so incredibly heavy, and my arms were really heavy, I could... 538 00:36:03,401 --> 00:36:06,400 When I was asked to do that, I could hardly move this arm. 539 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,240 You nearly blacked out. 540 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:11,000 Yeah? How much longer? Seconds. 541 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,400 Yeah. Really. Five, eight seconds. 542 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,160 I was on the point of blacking out. 543 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,320 I would then have become unconscious. 544 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,440 If you'd kept it going, I would be dead. Exactly. 545 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:25,440 The centrifuge may be the most effective way of training pilots 546 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,281 to survive hypoxia in flight manoeuvres, 547 00:36:28,281 --> 00:36:32,080 but it's as far from a perfect killing method as one can get. 548 00:36:34,321 --> 00:36:37,401 However, within this institute, 549 00:36:37,401 --> 00:36:42,080 there is a device that could prove to be a viable solution to Michael's quest. 550 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:45,200 You need to put a mask on your face and hold it like this. 551 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,041 This is an altitude chamber. 552 00:36:48,041 --> 00:36:52,000 It simulates the low oxygen concentration you get at high altitude 553 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,280 and provokes a entirely different form of hypoxia. 554 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,401 In the human centrifuge, Michael had the blood 555 00:37:00,401 --> 00:37:02,360 pushed from his brain to his feet. 556 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:07,801 In the altitude chamber, there will be plenty of blood in his brain 557 00:37:07,801 --> 00:37:10,801 but hardly any oxygen in his blood. 558 00:37:10,801 --> 00:37:12,361 Michael, how are you feeling? 559 00:37:12,361 --> 00:37:15,601 A little tense. A little tense. 560 00:37:15,601 --> 00:37:19,760 I will ask you to remove the mask at 8,000 or 9,000 feet 561 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:23,520 and then you will experience a rapid decompression. 562 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:30,400 This is a risky experiment, as unconsciousness can occur quite suddenly. 563 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:35,840 That was a sudden change. 564 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,921 That's what we call a rapid decompression. Just recover. 565 00:37:38,921 --> 00:37:42,920 Please, we talk, and tell me what you're experiencing. 566 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:47,120 A little bit giddy. Yeah, a little bit light headed. 567 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:51,121 Physiologist Dr Hans Wittenberg is monitoring Michael's condition 568 00:37:51,121 --> 00:37:55,721 by asking him to complete basic tasks. 569 00:37:55,721 --> 00:38:00,000 Can you show me by sticking up your fingers how much nine minus five is? 570 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,881 Nine minus five would be four. 571 00:38:03,881 --> 00:38:06,920 Excellent, what card is this? That's the eight of clubs. 572 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:08,960 Excellent. Yeah. 573 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:13,160 Michael's brain is suffering from oxygen starvation, 574 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:17,120 making him feel drunk, euphoric and over-confident. 575 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,081 Can you hold this up for me? 576 00:38:19,081 --> 00:38:20,800 I can hold it up, yeah. 577 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,521 And can you put the shape in it as well? 578 00:38:23,521 --> 00:38:26,120 All right, I'm looking for... 579 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:27,560 I'm looking for... Mm-hmm. 580 00:38:30,001 --> 00:38:35,800 I can't see...that one. 581 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:37,961 It's here. Is it? 582 00:38:37,961 --> 00:38:40,681 Ah... Put it in. OK. 583 00:38:40,681 --> 00:38:43,280 Excellent. What kind of card is this? 584 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,040 It's the three of diamonds. Three of diamonds? Yeah. 585 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,841 I've got another shape for you, can you put it in? 586 00:38:48,841 --> 00:38:52,160 Yes, it's the star. 587 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:53,881 Yes. 588 00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:00,001 Michael will eventually face an ultimate test. 589 00:39:00,001 --> 00:39:05,440 Will he be able to switch his oxygen back on and save his life? 590 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,761 Or will he be too far gone to care? 591 00:39:08,761 --> 00:39:12,000 How much is eight minus three? 592 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,000 Eight minus three is four. 593 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:16,281 Is it four? Eight minus three... 594 00:39:16,281 --> 00:39:20,480 SLURRING: No, eight minus three is... 595 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,761 Michael is dangerously hypoxic. 596 00:39:23,761 --> 00:39:28,081 OK, I think it's time to recover, Michael. 597 00:39:28,081 --> 00:39:32,761 Can you put up the switches? 598 00:39:32,761 --> 00:39:35,161 Put up the switches or you will die. 599 00:39:35,161 --> 00:39:37,040 Just swing the mask back on. 600 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,840 He's experiencing what appears to be the perfect method of execution, 601 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:43,960 and he doesn't care. 602 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,801 Put up the switches or you will die. 603 00:39:46,801 --> 00:39:48,320 Put up the switches. 604 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:49,961 GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION 605 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,561 Can you tell me how you feel now? 606 00:40:01,561 --> 00:40:03,241 Yeah. 607 00:40:03,241 --> 00:40:05,960 How do you feel? I feel much better. 608 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:09,481 Very good. How much is eight minus three? Five, definitely, five. 609 00:40:09,481 --> 00:40:11,200 Thank you. Yeah, yeah. 610 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:12,760 OK... Good. 611 00:40:14,321 --> 00:40:16,921 OK, Hans, thank you. Michael? 612 00:40:16,921 --> 00:40:18,560 Where are we now, Captain? 613 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,641 Well, actually you are descending now to sea level again, 614 00:40:21,641 --> 00:40:23,800 we are at 26,000 feet. 615 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:27,560 How much longer until I'd have been unconscious? A matter of seconds. 616 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:31,960 Really? I guess ten to 20 seconds and then... 617 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:33,641 And from there to death? 618 00:40:33,641 --> 00:40:37,321 That's your final destination, then. If Hans hadn't stepped in... 619 00:40:37,321 --> 00:40:40,160 He saved your life today. 620 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:44,000 You're kidding. Be very thankful. Thank you, Hans! 621 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,760 But overall, Michael, was it painful? 622 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,920 No! I thought the experiment was a failure, because 623 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,361 I was getting all the answers right. 624 00:40:52,361 --> 00:40:55,561 Did I get all the answers right? In the end, no. 625 00:40:55,561 --> 00:40:57,241 Really? Yes. 626 00:40:57,241 --> 00:40:59,561 I thought I was doing really well. Yeah! 627 00:40:59,561 --> 00:41:02,120 I thought I'd outwitted you. THEY LAUGH 628 00:41:04,201 --> 00:41:08,840 Well, I certainly felt self-confident, obviously I did, 629 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,000 but that's evidently one of the symptoms of hypoxia. 630 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:16,520 And I had no idea that I was near death. 631 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,681 I was just... 632 00:41:18,681 --> 00:41:20,960 Yeah, I was very happy, very happy. 633 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:24,601 Hell of a way to go. Hell of a way to go. 634 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,601 Hypoxia seems to be the perfect way to die. 635 00:41:32,601 --> 00:41:35,600 But Michael now faces a different problem - 636 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:39,360 how to implement his chosen method. 637 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,641 I think hypoxia is the solution. 638 00:41:41,641 --> 00:41:44,521 What I haven't thought about are the practicalities, 639 00:41:44,521 --> 00:41:49,520 because you can't build an expensive altitude chamber in place of every death chamber. 640 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,320 There's got to be a simpler way. 641 00:41:57,321 --> 00:42:00,760 There is one British scientist who has been developing 642 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:05,880 a humane method of killing based on the euphoric effects of the altitude chamber. 643 00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:11,360 Dr Mohan Raj from Bristol University has been researching hypoxia 644 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,641 as a way to kill farm animals in slaughterhouses, 645 00:42:14,641 --> 00:42:17,921 but instead of using a multi-million pound machine, 646 00:42:17,921 --> 00:42:19,921 he's using a painless gas. 647 00:42:22,801 --> 00:42:26,761 You've been using hypoxia humanely to kill farm animals. 648 00:42:26,761 --> 00:42:30,161 How are you doing that? We're using argon and nitrogen. 649 00:42:30,161 --> 00:42:35,281 You're using a gas? Yes. And that produces the same sort of hypoxia as I experienced? 650 00:42:35,281 --> 00:42:38,801 That's correct, principally they deprive the brain of oxygen. 651 00:42:38,801 --> 00:42:42,440 And how have you been doing that? We wanted to choose the gas mixture 652 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,800 that is animal-welfare friendly. The best way of deciding that 653 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,160 is to ask the pigs if they were given a free choice 654 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:53,360 to choose one or the other gas, what they call preference testing. 655 00:42:55,681 --> 00:42:59,360 Doctor Raj conducted an experiment in which pigs were offered apples 656 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:04,600 in a chamber filled with different hypoxia-inducing gases. 657 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:10,321 First, he used carbon dioxide, a toxic gas that irritates the body. 658 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:15,440 they will not feed in that atmosphere. 659 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,601 Then he used inert gases such as nitrogen and argon. 660 00:43:22,601 --> 00:43:26,360 Unlike carbon dioxide and the poison used in the gas chamber, 661 00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:31,720 inert gasses have no detectable smell, taste or physical sensation. 662 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:35,680 So the body has no way of knowing that the oxygen in the air has been 663 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:38,200 entirely replaced by another gas. 664 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:44,401 The painless effect is confirmed by what the pig did next. 665 00:43:44,401 --> 00:43:47,161 They woke up and just looked around 666 00:43:47,161 --> 00:43:50,600 and went back to feed again on the apples, and that indicated to us 667 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:54,520 that it is a stress-free induction of unconsciousness. 668 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,440 And can I see this equipment? Of course you can. 669 00:43:59,561 --> 00:44:01,160 So simple! 670 00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:02,680 It is. 671 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,161 We have a source of nitrogen here. 672 00:44:05,161 --> 00:44:07,921 Yeah. Taken through this tube, 673 00:44:07,921 --> 00:44:10,360 and the gas is delivered using the face mask 674 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:12,881 to pigs restrained in this hammock. 675 00:44:12,881 --> 00:44:15,160 And would you be able to change this mask 676 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,080 to a human mask and apply it to me? 677 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:19,760 Yes, you could, but I wouldn't recommend it. 678 00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:24,601 Why? Because if you're inhaling pure nitrogen, you will be unconscious within 15 seconds. 679 00:44:24,601 --> 00:44:26,600 15 seconds, really? That's right. 680 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:29,280 And how long to death? Within a minute. 681 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,121 Really? Yes. That's astonishing. 682 00:44:32,121 --> 00:44:35,600 So this really is the perfect killing machine. 683 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,280 That appears to be the case, yes. 684 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:48,560 'So it turns out that a canister of gas, a tube and a mask 685 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,400 'can be the perfect killing machine. It's as simple as that.' 686 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,920 The method is cheap, it's viable, it's infallible. 687 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,280 Not only is it painless, but the person dies with euphoria, 688 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,001 and so science does provide 689 00:45:03,001 --> 00:45:07,760 the answer to how you can have a humane method of execution. 690 00:45:08,881 --> 00:45:11,720 ON RADIO: 'The people who are on death row now 691 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:14,120 'are going to die in prison, no question. 692 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:17,080 'Jones also points out that even if a former inmate...' 693 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:20,800 With the solution in mind, Michael has returned to America, 694 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:25,640 where the debate over the humanity of the death penalty still rages. 695 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:29,801 'My interest in this isn't just scientific - it's practical, too. 696 00:45:29,801 --> 00:45:33,081 'I want to know what people think of this alternative method. 697 00:45:33,081 --> 00:45:37,201 'I know that most people who are against the death penalty won't buy it, 698 00:45:37,201 --> 00:45:42,281 'because for them whatever the method, state execution is murder. 699 00:45:42,281 --> 00:45:45,600 'But most Americans are in favour of the death penalty, 700 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:47,481 'and I need to ask those people 701 00:45:47,481 --> 00:45:52,281 'whether they'll go for nitrogen in place of the lethal injection.' 702 00:45:54,721 --> 00:45:57,841 There's one man who's uniquely placed to comment. 703 00:45:57,841 --> 00:46:01,521 The leading voice of the pro-death penalty movement in America, 704 00:46:01,521 --> 00:46:06,400 Professor Robert Blecker, is an expert on the government's policy on the subject. 705 00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:11,201 Professor, after some investigation, I think I've come up with 706 00:46:11,201 --> 00:46:15,121 a perfect killing device, an entirely humane way of killing a prisoner 707 00:46:15,121 --> 00:46:16,961 who's under sentence of death. 708 00:46:16,961 --> 00:46:20,760 It's nitrogen, which renders him first euphoric and then makes him 709 00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:24,120 unconscious pretty quickly, and he dies entirely without pain. 710 00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:27,080 What do you think of that? I think it's terrible. 711 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:32,680 Terrible, why? If the killers who smash their victims on the side of the heads with hammers 712 00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,561 and then slit their throats go out, in your own words, 713 00:46:35,561 --> 00:46:38,040 on a euphoric high, that is not justice. 714 00:46:38,040 --> 00:46:40,921 Was their victim's last moments euphoric? 715 00:46:40,921 --> 00:46:46,161 Will most of our last moments be euphoric? 716 00:46:46,161 --> 00:46:49,121 It's about the dignity of the state. It's about the state 717 00:46:49,121 --> 00:46:53,280 not in any way emulating the terrible things that the murderers have done. 718 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:57,320 Punishment's supposed to be painful. It's supposed to be unpleasant, 719 00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,081 that is what it is at its root. 720 00:46:59,081 --> 00:47:02,400 I understand your point, I'm not sure I understand your logic. 721 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,720 You may have objections to what I have done, find a perfect killing method... 722 00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:09,081 It's not perfect, it's a painless... 723 00:47:09,081 --> 00:47:11,481 I think it's a perfect killing method, 724 00:47:11,481 --> 00:47:15,560 because...you know, absolute humanity is something that you can aspire to, 725 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:19,280 and absolutely painless death. The two are not equated. I can achieve... 726 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,720 You are again going back over and over again and insisting 727 00:47:22,720 --> 00:47:26,921 that humanity and painless death are equated. They're not. 728 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,080 'All this time I've been using the expression, "perfect execution, 729 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:38,960 '"humane execution, painless execution," 730 00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:41,920 'as though they're all the same thing. 731 00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,041 'And it turns out they're not. 732 00:47:44,041 --> 00:47:47,360 'What makes a method perfect is completely subjective. 733 00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:49,600 'For the pro-death penalty lobby, 734 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,681 'using a painless method of execution 735 00:47:53,681 --> 00:47:56,121 'is inhumane to the victim of the crime.' 736 00:47:56,121 --> 00:47:58,921 But I stick to my guns - I set out to discover 737 00:47:58,921 --> 00:48:05,600 whether science could offer a painless way of killing people, and it does, 738 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:09,481 and I think that is the right thing to be looking at. 739 00:48:09,481 --> 00:48:13,520 Because for as long as the state is going to kill people, 740 00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:17,000 I think it has the obligation 741 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:18,761 to do it in the way 742 00:48:18,761 --> 00:48:22,961 that least resembles murder. 743 00:48:22,961 --> 00:48:27,241 And that's what this inquiry has come up with, 744 00:48:27,241 --> 00:48:30,361 a painless way of executing people.