1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (62 page)

“The Murder of Teresa Hal-bach,” TruTV,
www.trutv.com
.

458

FACT :
DNA tests proved that convicted rapist Larry Maze spent
more than two decades in prison under false charges
. When new prosecutors contacted the victim twenty-one years later, she revealed she’d been hypnotized by police before improperly identifying Maze in a photo lineup. He was exonerated in 2001.
Oops. I hope she sent him a “Sorry I sent you to prison for half of your life” card. I bet Hallmark makes one.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

459

FACT :
It took
two jolts of electricity
to kill convicted murderer Frank J. Coppola when he was executed by electrocution in 1982, the second of which caused Coppola’s head and leg to catch fire. A spectator later reported that the odor of burning flesh and smoke had filled the death chamber.
Replacing the usual delightful aroma of the death chamber.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

460

FACT :
During the 1983 electrocution of convicted killer John Evans in Alabama,
sparks emerged from his hood and leg electrodes
, one of which caught on fire. When physicians found Evans’ heart still beating, he was given a second jolt. A third jolt of electricity finally did the job. The execution lasted a total of fourteen minutes.
Isn’t everyone supposed to get fifteen minutes of flame? Evans got shorted.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

461

FACT :
When a Virginia woman was raped and murdered in 1982, suspect Earl Washington confessed to that crime and four others. Though he was shown to have an IQ of 69, and his confessions dubious, he was sentenced to death, but
was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2000
and released from prison.
The first seeds of doubt were planted when Washington claimed that he killed the radio star. That video was behind that.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

462

FACT :
When Jimmy Lee Gray was executed by asphyxiation in 1983 for murdering a three-year-old girl,
his gasps for air were so desperate
, authorities cleared the room of witnesses. Gray’s lawyer said, “Gray died banging his head against a steel pole in the gas chamber while reporters counted his moans.” His executioner was later revealed to have been drunk at the time.
Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

463

FACT :
When Jesse Tafero was electrocuted in Florida in 1990 for the murder of two police officers,
his head burst into flames
. After three jolts, he eventually stopped breathing. Officials blamed the use of a synthetic sponge (in place of a natural one) for the botched execution.
Others blamed the botched execution on Tafero’s murder of two police officers.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

“Sonia Jacobs,” Northwestern Law: Center On Wrongful Convictions,
www.law.northwestern.edu
.

464

FACT :
During the execution of serial killer John Wayne Gacy in 1994 in Illinois,
the lethal serum solidified and got clogged up
in the IV tube leading to Gacy’s arm. Executioners had to start over, and the process took eighteen minutes to complete.
And this was before smartphones, so it’s not like you could text anyone or check your e-mail while waiting for them to off the guy.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).

465

FACT :
At the 1997 execution of convicted murderer Pedro Medina in Florida,
foot-high flames erupted from his head
, causing the execution chamber to fill with smoke and gagging the two-dozen witnesses in attendance. Electricity was shut off, but Medina’s chest heaved until the flames subsided and he died.
After this incident, Florida put “No Smoking” signs on its electric chairs.