Hanging/choking

efreysson · Aug 5, 2013

I have a scene where a character is going to be first tortured and then killed by hanging. That is, he's first choked with the noose for a while, then allowed to draw a breath, choked again, allowed to draw a breath, etc, before being dropped off a height with the noose around his neck.

I guess my question is, how long can a person stay alive and conscious while having their air cut off? Does it make a difference if he is being garrotted by hand or if he actually is dangling in the air?
The idea is that he gets rescued before the fatal drop.

cornflake · Aug 5, 2013

Depends on how/what you're doing. A lot of people hung actually die from a broken neck, not asphyxiation. You can also crush the trachea if you're using enough force in the correct place.

shadowwalker · Aug 5, 2013

This article might help you out: (Warning - rather nasty pictures at top)

http://forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/asphyxia/hanging

It also discusses partial hanging, which might be helpful as well.

wendymarlowe · Aug 5, 2013

Look up autoerotic asphyxiation - not exactly what you're writing about, I know, but there's tons of info about there about choking and breath play. General consensus seems to be that there's no "safe" way to choke someone - there's always going to be a possibility that they'll die for real and there's nothing you can do to prevent that from happening once something goes wrong. So although you could definitely use choking as a form of torture before hanging, it's not going to be foolproof.

frimble3 · Aug 5, 2013

cornflake said:
Depends on how/what you're doing. A lot of people hung actually die from a broken neck, not asphyxiation. You can also crush the trachea if you're using enough force in the correct place.

Apparently part of being a professional hangman was knowing how to place the knot so that your weight would snap your neck, killing you quickly. Any idiot-with-a-rope might 'leave you hanging', dying a slow and unpleasant death by asphyxiation.
Although, I suppose that a trained hangman who didn't like you could do the same.

The relevant bit for the OP is that if you're doing something tricky like torturing a person by almost hanging them, you want to have someone with experience doing it.

ShayneTWright · Aug 5, 2013

There are two versions of hanging and the method of death is very different. "Hung by the neck until dead" or "Death by hanging".

#1 Hung from the neck until dead - This is the worst of the two and is used for henious crimes such as multiple murder or child related crimes. It involves the placement of the noose knot at the back of the neck. When the person is dropped from the gallows, the rope chokes the person to death under their own body weight. Loss of consciousness can typically takes 20 ~ 50 seconds as the body rapidly depletes the oxygen due to the panic state. The hanging is timed for about 10 minutes before the body is lowered.This method has lots of kicking and thrashing!

#2 Death by hanging - This is the quickest of the two methods. The noose know is placed at the side of the head, directly over a shoulder. Upon being dropped, the neck is violently snapped at a right angle whilst alos dislocating / breaking the spinal column. The shock kills the hangee instantly.

In both cases, a good sign of death is the uncontrolled release of bodily fluids upon death.

Of note - Under English law, extending to the Commonwealth and also widely accepted under most countries, if a person survives execution three times then it is considered a sign from God and the person is pardened to walk free.

ShayneTWright · Aug 5, 2013

efreysson said:
I have a scene where a character is going to be first tortured and then killed by hanging. See my earlier post for legal and practical variations on the hanging theme That is, he's first choked with the noose for a while, then allowed to draw a breath, choked again, allowed to draw a breath, etc, before being dropped off a height with the noose around his neck.

I guess my question is, how long can a person stay alive and conscious while having their air cut off? Drowing can take up to 3 mins and a practiced free diver can go for nearly 5 minutes between breathes. A typically untrained person lasts up to 60 seconds before loss of consciusness. The time frame drops rapidly if the person is paniced or vigoursly active, such as fighting. A well executed choke hold during a fight can knock an opponent out in less than 5 seconds due to the oxygen consumption rate of an already depleted body. Does it make a difference if he is being garrotted by hand or if he actually is dangling in the air? The action of being garroted involves having the wind pipe severed by a wire not choking. As for hanging in the air, see my other post.
The idea is that he gets rescued before the fatal drop.

*sarcasm on* Happy lynching by the sounds of it... *sarcasm off*

LilahLangdon · Aug 5, 2013

frimble3 said:
Apparently part of being a professional hangman was knowing how to place the knot so that your weight would snap your neck, killing you quickly. Any idiot-with-a-rope might 'leave you hanging', dying a slow and unpleasant death by asphyxiation.

James Berry actually polished a technique introduced by William Marwood, known as the long drop, which would calculate length of rope needed to break a neck (based on weight). This could result in decapitation in some cases though.

Standard hanging can be horribly slow. You're looking at 15-20 minutes on average until death*. At hangings in the past, loved ones would often attend to pull on the legs of the person being exectued - to speed up the process.

*Death death... unconciousness would come about a lot quicker, perhaps as quick as 30 seconds. Brain death and the heart stopping would be further down the line.

GailD · Aug 6, 2013

ShayneTWright said:
There are two versions of hanging and the method of death is very different. "Hung by the neck until dead" or "Death by hanging".

There isn't anything I can add here about the actual mechanisms of death by hanging as this seems pretty well covered by previous posts.

What I would like to mention is a common mistake people make when using the verb 'hang'. When referring to a person, the correct term is 'hanged' - hanged by the neck until dead. In a British court of law, (back when the death penalty was still a legal resort) the judge would place a square of black cloth on his head and make the following statement: "..(name of the defendant), you shall be taken to the place from whence you came, and thence to a place of lawful execution, and there you shall be hanged by the neck until you be dead, and afterwards your body shall be buried in a common grave within the precincts of the prison wherein you were last confined before your execution; and may the Lord have mercy on your soul."

The past tense of the verb 'hang' in the human context is 'hanged'. E.g. A portrait was hung on the wall. The man was hanged for his crime.

Just my 2c.

efreysson · Aug 6, 2013

Thanks all. That covers what I need.

King Neptune · Aug 6, 2013

If you want the detail of hanging, then look online for an article about hanging that covers that. I don't remember where I found it, but it covered the transition from long hanging and breaking the neck, including the improved knot and calculation from weight, etc.

Hanging/choking

efreysson

Closer than ever

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

shadowwalker

empty-nester!

wendymarlowe

writer, mother, geek

frimble3

Heckuva good sport

ShayneTWright

ShayneTWright

LilahLangdon

Should probably be writing

GailD

Still chasing plot bunnies.

efreysson

Closer than ever

King Neptune