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GIRL EXECUTED BY HANGING
IN MONTANA - U.S.A.
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Article from the YORK NEW TIMES of the 28th February 1999 :
Norma Jane Kelly, a young girl of 22 has been executed by hanging in the prison of Deer Lodge in the state of Montana , yesterday at 6.00 pm after governor Marc Racicot followed the unfavourable opinion of the Board of Pardon and refused her demand of grace
Norma Jane Kelly is the first woman to be executed by hanging since the reintroduction of capital punishment in the United States in 1976 .
The last hanging of a woman was performed in the Mississippi in 1937.
The girl was found guilty for the murder with premeditation of her friend Paola Simpson whom she killed with several pistol shots in 1993 when she was 16 . Paola Simpson had taken away Norma's fiance .
During the trial her lawyer claimed that the accused girl was mentally disturbed at the moment of the killing and that she was under the influence of drugs
Her childhood was very hard as she was abondoned at the age of 6 by her natural mother who was a prostitute . She was placed in a family in Helena where she was abused by her stepfather
All these circumstances did not impress the members of the jury who found her guilty of voluntary homicide and sentenced her to death.
Not even the appeals of Amnesty International and of Pope John Paul II ( who stated that he considered death sentence as an extreme and cruel act even more if it was applied to a girl who was only 16 at the moment of the crime ) changed anything to the verdict .
In America , the public opinion , normally in favour of the capital punishment, this time was in her vast majority against the execution of Norma , who during the 6 years of detention years had graduated with the help of correspondence courses and had converted to the Catholic religion thus becoming a fervent religious adept.
During one of her last interviews for CNN, she had the opportunity
to affirm that if the governor had granted her pardon, she
would have dedicated the rest of her life to the education of abondoned
children
THE EXECUTION
| 8.30 a.m. | Breakfast ( coffee, toast, jam, milk, eggs and cheese). |
| 9.30 a.m. | Shower |
| 11.00 a.m. | Norma is visited by her lawyer. |
| 2.00 p.m. | According to the rules Norma is visited by the doctor of the prison who certifies that she is in good health condition. |
| 3.00 p.m. | Norma is informed by the manager of the prison that her latest demand for pardon has been refused by the governor. |
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| 4.00 p.m. | Outside of the prison groups from Amnesty International protest against the execution . There are television crews from all over the world present at the site |
| 4.30 p.m. | Last meal ( fried chicken , chips , bread , Coke , fruit and dessert) |
| 5.15 p.m. | Norma receives for the last time the visit of her lawyer who still hopes for a possible suspension of the execution |
| 5.30 p.m. | Norm receives the visit of the chaplain of the prison who confesses her and gives her the communion. |
| 5.35 p.m. | In the execution room gather the relatives of the killed girl , some journalists, the police officer that arrested Norma and her lawyer . |
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| 5.50 p.m. | Norma is placed on the gallows , her hands cuffed behind , her feet
shackled
and chained to the handcuffs |
| 5.55 p.m. | The executioner places the noose around her neck |
| 5.58 p.m. | Norma says her last words : "I ask you to pardon me for all I have done , for all the pain and sorrow I brought to the parents of Paola , I hope that my death could give them a little peace . I forgive you all ". |
| 6.00 p.m. | The executioner operates the lever that opens the trapdoor. Norma remains hanging by the neck |
| 6.01 p.m. | During her agony, the face of the girl becomes cyanotic for the
lack of oxygen, her eyes are bulging out and her tongue sticks out of the
mouth .
Due to the pressure of the noose on the cervical nerves the body undergoes sudden spasms. |
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| 6.05 p.m. | Saliva comes out of her mouth and traces of urine drip down from her pants |
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| 6.07 p.m. | The spasms stop. |
| 6.10 p.m. | The doctor of the prison declares the death of the girl |
| 6.30 p.m. | The body is placed in a coffin and transported to the mortuary. |
Justice has been done ! Norma now rests in peace .
FROM 1632 UNTIL TODAY 520 WOMEN HAVE BEEN EXECUTED
IN USA .
IN JUNE 1999 THERE WERE 47 WOMEN IN THE DEATH ROW ON A TOTAL
OF 3625 DETAINED.
(Source : Amnesty interinternational).
ATTENTION!
This story is completely invented, the events described
are pure fantasy.
the death scene is a fiction. The model is of legal age.
Author of the texts and of the photography: Antonio Di Gennaro.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ANTONIO DI GENNARO PRODUCTION.
E-MAIL: andigen@tin.it
