EXECUTION IN HUNGARY.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 120, 1 May 1884, Page 2

EXECUTION IN HUNGARY.

Thf following revolting particulars of the execution of the three murderers of Chief Justice Majlath are supplied by the Vienna correspondent of the Daily Telegraph :—6o persons were allowed to witness the execution, which took place in a small courtyard inside the prison. Three posts, about 8 feet high and 4 feet apart, were erected in the centre. At the top of each post was a small hook, and at the bottom a pulley. The three men were brought out at 7 precisely, and placed each with his back against one of the posts. They were not blindfolded. Each of them was attended by a priest. In front of them the troops and spectators formed an irregular semicircle, while in the centre stood the judges of the last Court of Appeal in ordinary morning dress. Some little time was occupied by the reading of the sentence, a most unnecessary formality which had been gone through already in the presence of the three criminals the previous day at the Court of Appeal. On a signal given by the Public Prosecutor the execution was then proceeded with. Sponga, who was placed to the left, was the first to suffer the penalty of the law. Two steps were placed at the foot of the post, which the convict was bidden to mount, his hands being then pinioned to his left thigh. He looked pale, but kept his nerve, and asked pardon of the Majlath family and of the authorities. A screen of wood was put between him and the two others, after which the chief executioner mounted a ladder, and taking out of his pocket a rope with a loop at both ends, passed it round the culprit’s neck, and securing a knot under the left ear, tightened it. Meanwhile one of the assistants tied his feet together with another rope, and passing it through the pulley kept the other end in his hand. The chief executioner then gave the signal, and with the aid of another assistant the convict was lifted by the rope attached to his neck about six inches and hung on the hook at the top of the post. The attendant holding the rope attached to his legs . simultaneously pulled with force, while his chief placed his hands on the criminals mouth and eyes. Death ensued in about two minutes, not as some accounts state in 17. The execution of others then took place in the same way. The man Pitley who was the principal author of the crime, had a ruffanly cjuntenance, beetle-browed, and of sallow complection. In his case death resulted in half a minute. The last of the three, by name Breez,was a big shambling fellow with a Newgate slouch, an eagle nose, and an Oriental cast of countenance. He lost h’s nerve, and had to be supported to the stake. He kissed the crucifix, and called upon the Almighty to curse his judges. The President of the Court of Appeal thereupon ordered the drums to play, so as to drown his voice. Death with him was instantaneous, but his face, unlike that of his accomplices, was fearfully distorted. The principal priest in attendance then knelt down, and the spectators with uncovered heads listened to a short prayer for the souls of the departed. Within 15 minutes three doctors had successively examined the bodies with stethoscopes, and declared life to be extinct. The bodies were left hanging half-an-hour, and then removed to a dissecting-room.