Author Archives: Garry Rodgers

About Garry Rodgers

After three decades as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police homicide detective and British Columbia coroner, International Best Selling author and blogger Garry Rodgers has an expertise in death and the craft of writing on it. Now retired, he wants to provoke your thoughts about death and help authors give life to their words.

THE TERRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT ADOLF HITLER’S REMAINS

The name “Adolf Hitler” is synonymous with evil. Pure evil. Hitler, or the Fuhrer as he self-titled, ruled Germany as chancellor and dictator from the rise of Nazism in 1933 until his death by suicide in 1945. During that time, millions of civilians and soldiers died and the Motherland was destroyed — a truly atrocious era in human history. Horrific as that time was, today there’s a terrible possibility a new monster could arise from Adolf Hitler’s remains.

From the moment Adolf Hitler expired, rumors circulated about what really happened to the Fuhrer’s body. Many witnesses were at Hitler’s death scene. Most saw his deceased form, and some admitted to help dispose of Hitler’s earthly evidence. Despite sworn statements and hard medical facts, few details were released to the Allies and the western world. That was because Russians did the investigation. Red Army Intelligence officers processed forensics that included autopsying and conclusively identifying Hitler’s cadaver.

Because of a lack of released information, speculation of Hitler’s survival soon started. Concocted conspiracy theories began, and there were sightings of the Fuhrer reported on every continent including a secret submarine base near Antarctica. Nazi hunters followed clues across Europe, in Asia, Africa, America and deep into Argentina. None paid off because the truth was the Russians had Hitler all along.

The truth is also that Hitler’s corpse made a remarkable journey from one hiding spot to another. He was buried and dug-up at least five times over a twenty-five year period. Today, tangible parts of Adolf Hitler still exist, and that leads to a modern biological possibility the Fuhrer could live again. Here’s the terrible truth about Adolf Hitler’s remains.

*   *   *

Adolf Hitler entered the world in 1889. His birthplace was near Linz which was then part of the Austrian-Hungarian alliance. Hitler moved to Germany in 1913 and worked as an aspiring architect but amounted to no more than a starving artist.

He served in the German Army during World War 1 and rose to a corporal rank. He was injured while running messages and spent most of the First World War on the sidelines. Following Germany’s surrender, Hitler immersed in trade union politics with the German Workers Party and soon got himself in trouble.

Hitler was jailed as a political prisoner after he led a failed coup. His lock-up during 1923 and 1924 gave him time to write Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which was his manifesto outlining his plan to gain dictatorial power in Germany and expand Aryan racial interests. Hitler also met Rudolf Hess who had significant influence in solidifying anti-Jewish hatred in Hitler’s psyche.

By the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler attained sufficient control through the National Socialist Party which were the Nazis. Hitler surrounded himself with particularly nasty men and used brute force to gain and maintain authority. Some were ideological psychopaths such as Heinrich Himmler. Others, like Herman Goering, were crass opportunists.

Hitler managed to establish massive support from the German population which included the Caucasians and excluded other races and cultures, especially the Jews. He formed plans to expand Germany’s empire and gain space for the blond-haired, blue-eyed pure Aryans. But, his 1939 action of annexing Poland started the Second World War and began his undoing.

One of Hitler’s massive mistakes was declaring war on Russia. From a historical point, there was no need to do this for Hitler to execute his manifesto. It seems Hitler went slowly mad and his delusions caused him to fatally overextend his armed forces’ capacity and the world turned on him through an unlikely Russian and western alliance.

By April of 1945, the war was nearly over and Hitler denied it. He was probably insane by this time which is backed-up by accounts of his inner circle who stayed with Hitler in his Berlin bunker until the Russians arrived. There were reports of Hitler collapsing in tearful rages and hysterically ordering non-existent army units into combat action.

On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun, in the Fuhrer bunker. After a minor champagne celebration and dictating his last will and testament, Hitler and Braun retired to their chambers and committed joint suicide. Exactly how they did it and what became of their bodies turned into a world-class mystery. Some describe it as a parlor game full of crazy conspiracies.

The best evidence of what really happened to Hitler and Braun comes from two sources. One is eyewitnesses who were in the bunker at the time. The other is scientific material carefully collected by the Russian government. The first information pool has the usual witness fallibilities. The second source has credibility issues due to Russian misinformation, concealment, and cover-ups.

There is absolutely no doubt Adolf Hitler died on April 30, 1945. That is uncontested by any credible opinion. Most accounts have Hitler using the “pistol and poison” method where he ingested prussic acid, or hydrogen cyanide, while putting a handgun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. All accounts indicate Evan Braun was not shot. Rather, she also took a cyanide dose.

Hitler clearly expressed his wish to have their bodies cremated. He’d learned of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s public execution where Mussolini’s body was hung by the feet and mutilated by the crowd. Adolf Hitler did not want that happening to him. He specifically instructed his staff to take his body out of the bunker and set in on fire in the garden.

This act is well recorded and supported by now-released evidence. Hitler’s aides poured some sort of petroleum fuel over the Fuhrer and Eva Braun. However, they were unable to create sufficient heat to consume the corpses and the cadavers were only charred.

There were several attempts to increase the inferno, but time ran out. The Russians were on their doorstep and lobbing artillery rounds into the garden and at the bunker. Aides hastily dug a shell crater into a shallow grave and covered up Hitler and Braun’s burnt bodies.

The bunker occupants surrendered and quickly disclosed where Hitler and Braun lay buried. Russian medical experts arrived on May 4, 1945, and exhumed the grave. They took both bodies to a facility at Buch in Berlin and stored them above ground. Two Russian pathologists performed autopsies on May 10, and their report was publicly released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act in 2000.

Hitler and Braun were superficially scorched to the point of visual non-recognition. However, they were skeletally intact which included their organs being suitable for dissection. Braun showed no bullet wound but did exhibit post-mortem shrapnel damage. One pathologist noted this probably happened as an artillery round exploded while she was on fire. Glass shards and cyanide traces were in her mouth, and they listed Eva Braun’s cause of death as suicide by poison.

Adolf Hitler showed no conclusive sign of disease or any sudden medical event. As rumors always said, Hitler only had one testicle. His brain was biologically unremarkable, but it was traversed by a bullet passage. The pathologists could not identify an entrance wound and theorized it was probably through the mouth. There was also no notable exit wound or bullet slug itself. The report says Hitler’s upper cranial bone was missing, and they assumed it was blown off by the gunshot force.

The pathologists conclusively found glass shards and cyanide traces in the Fuhrer’s mouth. They listed his cause of death as a combination of cyanide poisoning and a gunshot wound to the head. Something else they discovered in Hitler’s mouth was crucial to identifying his body. That was Adolf Hitler’s unmistakable dentition.

Hitler’s teeth were in terrible condition. His upper and lower mandibles were a mess of bridges and crowns with a sprinkling of natural enamel that enclosed tooth pulp. His gums were inflamed, and he had several extraction gaps that weren’t replaced. It was an odontologist’s dream when it came to making a postmortem identification.

The Russian pathology team located Hitler’s dentist and assistant who were thoroughly familiar with every part of the Fuhrer’s mouth. They viewed the dental work from the cadaver and produced Hitler’s complete records. They established there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever these dental works belong to the now-deceased Adolf Hitler.

Joseph Stalin, the Russian dictator, wasn’t so sure. Stalin was paranoid that his nemesis Hitler would come to haunt him by people believing Hitler was alive and hidden or having his body become a future Nazi shrine. Stalin stalled and ordered Hitler’s body temporarily buried with the dental work brought to Moscow for his inspection.

It’s not clear from historical records where Hitler’s body was temporarily interred. It seems he was stored in the Russian-occupied sector of Berlin. Once Stalin was satisfied Hitler was dead, and the dental work was conclusive identification, he began a misinformation campaign to deny this. Stalin’s motives for fooling the west have gone to the grave with him, but Stalin wasn’t finished with Hitler’s body.

On June 3, 1945, Stalin ordered Hitler’s remains exhumed from temporary storage and moved to a highly-secret and secluded spot. This was in the Brandenburg forest area southwest of Berlin. Hitler, and presumably Braun as well, were buried in wooden caskets which were more like shipping crates. They lay undisturbed for several months until Stalin had a change of plans.

For whatever reason, Stalin ordered Hitler dug-up again. On February 21, 1946, Stalin directed that Hitler be put under the ground at a parade square inside a Russian-held military base at Magdeburg, Germany. This spot was southwest of Brandenburg, but in a high-traffic area instead of a remote forest.

Joseph Stalin died in 1953. Russia carried on as the Soviet Union and entered the cold war. By 1970, Russia began turning occupied territory over to the East German government which was communist friendly. That included the Magdeburg base going back into German hands.

Yuri Andropov, who went on to be the Soviet Union leader, was the KGB head in the early 70s. Andropov knew Hitler’s body was under the Magdeburg parade square, and the last thing he wanted was a future German regime breathing life into Hitler’s memory by turning that site into a Neo-Nazi Mecca. Andropov had Hitler exhumed again and finally dealt with.

In the middle of the night on April 3-4, 1970, a secret shovel squad extracted what was left of Adolf Hitler’s bones and burned them. There are conflicting stories about what happened. Andropov is on public record stating the ashes were scattered in the nearby Elbe River. Work-party members state the bones were so dry that they vanished in smoke. And a few reports hint that Adolf Hitler was dumped into the city sewer system.

What finally took place with Hitler’s cadaver may never be known. However, there’s one thing for certain. Adolf Hitler’s teeth remain locked in a Kremlin vault. They’re resting there today.

What’s also certain is Hitler’s natural teeth contain his DNA. Those molecules stay preserved in the pulp. Hitler’s biological profile is encased within the enamel practically forever, and DNA can be cloned. Cloning Adolf Hitler was the plot in the 1978 blockbuster The Boys From Brazil. Back then, it was science fiction. Today, technology of DNA extraction and cloning zygote embryos into a surrogate mother is not sci-fi. It’s very, very, very real.

All it would take is some evil crackpot doctor like Joseph Mengele to steal Hitler’s tooth, saw it open, and start cloning away. That’s the terrible truth about Adolf Hitler’s remains.

HOW TO CONDUCT A “COMPETENT” HANGING EXECUTION

Capital punishment. You’re likely all-in or all-out on the issue. Few seem to sit on the fence about lawfully executing the worst of offenders. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 61 percent of Americans currently oppose capital punishment, 33 percent support it and 6 percent fence sit with no strong opinion. But, the pendulum is swinging back towards execution approval in what the United States Supreme Court calls, “Evolving Standards of Decency”. This means public sentiment is moving from an anti cruel-and-unusual punishment mode to old-fashioned, eye-for-an-eye justice.

Believe it or not, I’m a cautious fence sitter when it comes to putting bad guys down. My view is the only definite outcome of killing a serious offender is ensuring they’ll never threaten society again. All the rest of the pro and con arguments seem secondary. Those include fear of executing the innocent, reducing crime and economizing expenses, moral repugnance, administering due punishment, issuing general deterrence and circumventing blotched procedures.

Here are more American stats from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The DPIC Fact Sheet shows at the end of 2019, there were 2656 condemned souls waiting it out on America’s death rows. The two biggest states by population, California and Texas, had 729 and 224 condemned inmates respectively.

Texas is a prolific executioner with 567 prisoners lethally injected since 1977 while California did-in 13. In total, the participating U.S. states killed 1512 inmates with Texas accounting for 37.5 percent of all executions. You can do the math on California’s commitment to the program, and they recently entered a moratorium on capital punishment.

The vast majority of the “civilized” world doesn’t have statutory death penalty legislation. American executions are left to each state’s discretion with the exception of federal offenses. 29 states approve capital punishment, although many refuse to practice it. 21 states have no stomach for the job regardless if it’s lethal injecting, electrocuting, gassing, shooting or hanging. Up till recently, hanging was still approved in Washington and New Hampshire but both states have recently repealed the death penalty.

You’re probably wondering what got me going on capital punishment and why the headline How to Conduct a Competent Hanging. Well, I ran across the 1928 story of a prolific American serial killer named Earle Leonard Nelson – a guy I never heard of – who was hung in my growing-up town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The article clicked me through to an official hanging instruction manual issued by the State of Delaware written when they still strung-up sentenced sociopaths.

The publication’s title is Execution by Hanging – Operation and Instruction Manual and the sub-title is How to Conduct a Competent Hanging. I was intrigued by the complicated and precise science involved in hangings so I thought I’d share it with you. Here’s how Delaware Corrections competently hung people before they banned capital punishment in 2016.

EXECUTION BY HANGING – OPERATION and INSTRUCTION MANUAL

How to Conduct a Competent Hanging

BACKGROUND

Hanging has been utilized as a mode of execution for as long as man can remember. There have been more executions by this method than any other means. The procedure is simple; and yet there have been more botched executions by this method than by any other.

Essentially, execution by hanging is strangulation, effected by restricting the executee’s air supply at the neck, unconsciousness occurring between two and four minutes and
death within ten, resulting in death by asphyxiation. This, however, is not humane.

The correct procedure is when the executee is dropped some distance and stopped by a rope fastened around his neck. The force of this drop and stop breaks the bones in the executee’s neck and severs his spinal cord causing him to go into medical shock and be rendered unconscious. At this point the executee strangles to death. This method is the only humane form of hanging.

The force (in foot pounds) of the drop is critical and is determined by the physical stature of the executee, primarily his weight. In general, the heavier the person, the shorter the drop, and conversely, the lighter the person the longer the drop. Generally, weights as low as 120 pounds result in a force of some 950 foot pounds where weights over 220 result in some 1100 foot pounds. A drop of too short a distance will result in a condition where the spinal cord is not severed and the executee will not go into shock and will be conscious during the strangulation period. A drop of too long a distance will result in decapitation. Both conditions are not humane. In general, execution requirements will never result in an execution where the inertia of the drop will greatly exceed 1600 foot pounds or be less than 900 foot pounds. In all cases, it is better to utilize an established formula.

Drop Distance Table to Prevent an Error or Accident.

The Drop Distance Table contained herein is the established Table utilized successfully by the United States Army for many years. Additionally, the specifications for some of the specialized hardware defined herein are resultant from many years of testing by the United States Army.

MEDICAL DESCRIPTION

The executee will be dropped a distance as defined in the Drop Distance Table and his acceleration will be stopped by the rope around his neck. This will result in the breakage
of several neck bones and the severing of the spinal cord within a time period of less than a second. The executee will immediately enter medical shock. He will probably experience one brief instant (measured in milliseconds) of pain before he loses all consciousness and all sensation. His body will go limp with paralysis. He will then strangle due to the lack of oxygen. He should be brain dead in something more than six minutes and heart dead in about eight. The attending medical doctor will determine heart death.

Depending upon the equipment used, there will be some physical trauma to the executee’s body. This should be minimized by using the defined equipment.

PURPOSE

This Manual, the Protocol, Procedures and Equipment contained herein were written and designed to ensure a competent and humane execution. The equipment and procedures have been taken from long-standing and well-tested protocol and changes and improvements were made based upon expert engineering and medical considerations. It is the author’s intent to make the execution as easy and painless as possible for both the Executee and those persons tasked with carrying out the execution. The Protocol, Procedures and the Equipment have been designed to  maintain the dignity of the executee, as well as, the dignity of those responsible for the execution.

Up until very recently Execution was an Art employed only by the “Executioner”. It is only now becoming a Science with the Training and Certification of other types of Execution Technicians (i.e. Lethal Injection and Electrocution). Those persons carrying out the Protocol and Procedures in this Manual shall be Trained and Certified as Hanging Technicians.

It is further suggested (if the Jurisdiction permits) that the Executee be tranquilized one-half (1/2) hour prior to execution by the administration of Diazepam (Valium) as per the dosage table.

EQUIPMENT

The following items are required for a competent hanging.

A Gallows should be utilized having the following basic characteristics.

A Floor Height of at least nine (9) feet to allow for a minimum clearance of about one (1) foot on the drop.

A Crossbeam Height of nine (9) feet giving an approximate clearance of three (3) feet above the executee.

An Opening and Trap Door of at least three (3) feet square to allow proper clearance for the executee.

Means of Releasing the trap door. This is normally accomplished by utilizing two bolts
under one side of the door which are actuated by a common mechanism, either linkage rods or cable.

Means for Stopping the trap door swing after it has fallen. This is normally accomplished
utilizing a mechanical metal spring catch or a counterweight and a “rope grabber”.

An Eyelet or Fastening Mechanism for the rope containing the Hangman’s Noose.

Body Restraint. This is a waist strap containing two (2) wrist restraints. It is fabricated from 3000 lb. test nylon aircraft webbing two (2) inches wide and is fifty (50) inches long. It contains three (3) quick release fasteners (one [1] for the waist and one [1] for each wrist) all of which are adjustable from each side. The color is black with chrome fasteners.

Leg Restraint. This is an ankle strap which binds both ankles together. It is fabricated from 3000 lb. test nylon aircraft webbing two (2) inches wide and is thirty-six (36) inches long. It contains one (1) quick release fastener which is adjustable from both sides. The color is black with chrome fasteners.

Collapse Frame. This is a six by thirty (6 X 30) inch frame fabricated of square steel tubing. It contains three (3) body restraints measuring fifty (50) inches long by two (2) inches wide which are made from 3000 lb.test nylon aircraft webbing and contain three (3) quickrelease fasteners adjustable from both sides. (One [1]for each restraint.) The color of the frame and webbing is black and the fasteners are chrome. This is used in the event of a physical collapse by the executee and enables the personnel conducting the execution to transport him to the scaffold.

Hood. The hood is fabricated of black denim and has split sides enabling it to extend onto the chest and back. It is generally used, optionally, to cover the face of the executee. A similar hood is available for the executioner but has a hole for the eyes.

Mechanical Hangman’s Knot. This is fabricated from a delrin cylinder and has two (2) longitudinal holes and a steel U-clamp to fasten the rope. It comes with a black denim cover which is fastened with velcro. It is a replacement for the Conventional Hangman’s Knot to eliminate the problems in tying the knot. It, unlike the Conventional Hangman’s Knot, never binds in operation.

Noose Sleeve. This is fabricated of denim and fastened with velcro. It is utilized to prevent tissue damage at the neck.

Rope. Standard hangman’s rope of three-quarter (3/4) inch Manila hemp is available in thirty (30) foot lengths. This rope has been boiled and stretched in drying to eliminate all spring, stiffness or tendency to coil. The rope is also available in six-hundred (600) foot coils but cannot be treated when supplied thus.

Knot Lubricant. Knot lubricant must be used whether utilizing the Mechanical or Conventional Hangman’s knot. With the Mechanical Hangman’s Knot, silicone spray is
recommended. With the Conventional Hangman’s Knot, melted paraffin is recommended.

PERSONNEL

Personnel for the Execution must consist of the following persons:

One (1) or more Certified Hanging Technicians
One (1) Executioner

Additional Personnel:

One (1) or more attendants or guards.
At least three (3) persons from the above categories are necessary to conduct the execution. Ideally, six (6) persons: two (2) Certified Hanging Technicians, three (3) attendants or guards, and one (1) Executioner would result in an easier execution. The Hanging Technicians, only, will do makeready, test and bind the Executee. The Executioner need not have any special training, as his only function is to release the trap door.

PREPARATION

The following procedure should be used in make-ready for the gallows prior to the execution. This should be done several days prior to the execution by a Certified Hanging Technician.

1. Determine the Rope Length for the particular executee. Employ the following formula for this determination and in the event of a multiple execution test with the requirements
for the lighter executee and the longer drop. After the first execution, the Rope Length should be shortened for the next execution. Since the test was for the lighter executee, the trap door may be considered to function with the greater weight of the second executee.

Rope Length = (S – C) + Drop Distance
Where: S = Scaffold Crossbeam Height from Scaffold Floor
C = Executee’s Chin Height
Drop Distance = the distance the executee is dropped
Rope Length = distance of the executee’s drop + the distance of his chin from the
scaffold crossbeam

Note: All measurements are in inches.

2. Measure the Executee’s Chin Height from the floor and
weigh him.

3. Measure the Scaffold Crossbeam Height from the floor of
the scaffold.

4. Subtract the Chin Height from the Scaffold Crossbeam Height and add the Drop Distance from the Drop Distance Table to obtain the Rope Length.

5. Mark the Rope at the rope length and cut it seven (7) feet longer. If fastener for rope is not at crossbeam but at another location, add this distance to the crossbeam height plus any additional amount needed for fastening.

6. Boil the Rope for one (1) hour and stretch the rope while drying to eliminate all spring, stiffness or tendency to coil. Dry thoroughly.

7. Either Tie Conventional Hangman’s Knot as per included instructions or utilize a Mechanical Hangman’s Knot and fasten with U-clamp. Lubricate Hangman’s Knot with
proper lubricant.

8. Install the Rope with the Hangman’s Noose to the scaffold crossbeam and cut off remaining rope. The rope should be stretched tight prior to cutting and only the Rope Length should hang below the scaffold crossbeam.

9. Oil, Check and Verify that all mechanical parts of the Gallows (i.e. the hinges on the trap door and the release mechanism) are functioning properly.

10. Fill Two (2) Sandbags with the equivalent weight of the executee (half in each bag) and fasten the bags together at the tops. Open the Noose and slip it over one of the bags and tighten it at the point where the bags are fastened together. You are now ready to test the gallows.

11, Close the Trap Door and Reset the trip mechanism. Stand on the door to make sure it is secure. Place the sandbags on the door and loop the rope in such a fashion as to prevent any crimping or catching. Test the gallows repeatedly (at least twelve [12] times) to insure proper mechanical operation of the trap door and that the rope is secure and will not break.

You are now prepared for the execution.

EXECUTION PROCEDURE

Note: The following procedure should be completed by a Certified Hanging Technician.

1. Install the Noose Sleeve and, if using a Mechanical Hangman’s Knot, install the cover for the Knot.

2. Install the Body Restraint around the Executee’s waist and tightly bind his wrists to the restraint. (His arms may be restrained either in the front or the back.) If necessary, utilize the Collapse Frame.

3. Bring the Executee to the Execution Location and up the stairs to the scaffold. Remove the Collapse Frame, if utilized.

4. Place the Executee on the Trap Door and conduct the legal formalities.

5. Bind the Executee’s Legs with the Leg Restraint. Place the Hood over the Executee’s head, if used. Place the Hangman’s Noose over the Executee’s head and tighten snugly around his neck. Place the Hangman’s Knot directly behind the Executee’s left ear.

6. All Hanging Technicians shall leave the scaffold and the Executioner, on order from the Warden, shall release the trap door.

7. The Trap Door Shall Open and the Executee Shall Drop. On order from the Warden some eight minutes after the release mechanism was thrown, the attending doctor shall examine the Executee for heart death.

8. After the Pronouncement of Death, the Hanging Technicians shall, while supporting the Executee, loosen and remove the Noose and Hood and set the Executee on the floor. Thereupon, the Hanging Technicians shall remove the Leg and Body Restraints. Executee shall be placed in a body bag for removal.

The following Special Protocol applies:

APPENDIX

DROP DISTANCE TABLE

Weight in Drop Weight in Drop Pounds Distance Pounds Distance

120 or less……..8′ 1″ 170…………….6′ 0″
125…………….7’10” 175…………….5’11”
130…………….7′ 7″ 180…………….5′ 9″
135…………….7′ 4″ 185…………….5′ 7″
140…………….7′ 1″ 190…………….5′ 6″
145…………….6′ 9″ 195…………….5′ 5″
150…………….6′ 7″ 200…………….5′ 4″
155…………….6′ 6″ 205…………….5′ 2″
160…………….6′ 4″ 210…………….5′ 1″
165…………….6′ 2″ 220 and over…….5′ 0″

DIAZEPAM DOSAGE TABLE (Valium)

Note: To be used only in Jurisdictions where legal.

Diazepam Tablets USP, 10 mg (flat, round, white, scored tablets coded WC 143) supplied in bottles of 100 # N0047-0143-24. (Warner Chilcott)

Diazepam has a central nervous system depressant effect and has no short term side effects which would preclude its use as an execution anxiety and stress suppressant. Warning: will produce ataxia (appearance of being drunk) at high dosages and can cause death. Do not overdose or exceed the dosages in the table. If possible, administration should be by physician.

Weight Dosage in Pounds milligram

to 160 15 mg
to 180 20 mg
to 200 25 mg
to 220 and above 30 mg

PROCEDURE FOR TYING HANGMAN’S KNOT

Length of loops: make loop as shown from Standing Part to Running End. A to B should be approximately eighteen (18) inches, and from C to Running End should be approximately thirty-five (35) inches. Wrap running end for six (6) turns. No extra rope should remain.

Tighten wrap (loops) by pulling Running End. Lock loops and form Knot by pulling down at point D and up on Running End. Slide Knot up or down on Standing Part to adjust size of Noose.

NOTE FROM AUTHOR

Hanging is an option in only three states. If properly done it is a humane procedure. The executee is dropped a proper distance as determined by his weight. This distance is
obtained from a drop distance table which is entered utilizing his weight as an argument. The drop and subsequent stop (an acceleration of something approaching some 1600 foot pounds) results in the breaking of several bones in the spinal column which causes nerve damage and unconsciousness. After one brief instant of pain, the executee goes into medical shock and strangles.

If the executee is dropped too short a distance, he will slowly strangle while conscious. If he is dropped to far a distance, this may result in decapitation. I recently wrote the Manual for the State of Delaware, Execution By Hanging, which has been approved by the court. This protocol will most likely be used in any future hanging in the United States. In the past, few hangings were properly conducted, and it is for this reason that the procedure is not generally considered to be humane.

*   *   *

This hanging manual was the official Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Delaware State Corrections until they abolished all forms of capital punishment in 2016. A fellow by the name of Fred A. Leuchter wrote it and seems to have a good grip on operating a competent gallows. But, I thought I’d check him out and see what his expertise really is. Here’s what Wikepedia says about Fred Leuchter:

“Fred Arthur Leuchter Jr. (born February 7, 1943) is an American manufacturer of execution equipment and Holocaust denier who is best known as the author of the Leuchter report, a pseudoscientific document[2] that alleges there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Prior to this, he had been contracted by the authorities of several states in the U.S. to improve the design of instruments for capital punishment.

Leuchter was charged in Massachusetts with having misrepresented himself to penitentiaries as an engineer, despite having no relevant qualifications; Leuchter plea bargained with state prosecutors, and received two years probation. He has also been accused of running a “death row shakedown”, in which Leuchter threatened to testify for the defense in capital cases if he was not given contracts for his services by that state.[1][3][4]

Leuchter became internationally known for his testimony in defense of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel in 1988. His study for Zündel’s trial has been referred to as the Leuchter Report[5] since it was published by Zündel with that title.

Leuchter’s work is often presented by Holocaust deniers as scientifically-based evidence for Holocaust denial, despite his research methods and findings having been widely discredited on both scientific and historical grounds. Leuchter, and his report, are the subject of Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., a 1999 feature-length documentary film by Errol Morris.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND WHAT’S UP WITH GARRY RODGERS’ WRITING FOR 2020

Wow! How fast did two decades fly by? Seems like yesterday we were freaking over the new millennia’s Y2K impending doom of driving a dastardly internet chain reaction filled with devastating quirks and quarks through the hearts of our hard drives. Well, that never happened. As Trump says, it was fake news – all lies – a terrible, terrible hoax. Fortunately, it gave me twenty new years to polish my craft and plot my course. So, here’s what’s up with Garry Rodgers’ writing for 2020.

2019 was a productive year in the writing room. I penned and shipped about fifty feature articles for my daughter’s agency. None changed the world but they helped pay the bills. I also managed to scrape together personal blog posts for every second Saturday morning on DyingWords.net. Some pieces took a lot of research and I learned new things. That’s part of the many happy returns from blogging.

As well, I completed two full-length book manuscripts. One is a historical non-fiction work titled Sun Dance – Why Custer Really Lost the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It’s now with an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, and we’ll see where that goes. The other is a based-on-true-crime story called From The Shadows. I was going to release it on Amazon this month, but put things on hold till January as I didn’t want it getting smothered in the Christmas market.

I’m also two-thirds through writing Beside The Road. It’s another based-on-true crime read in the same series as From The Shadows, Under The Ground and In The Attic. These formats have worked well in reader reviews and the sales department. So, if it ain’t broke, I’m not gonna fix it. I have more plots planned which follow true crime stories that I was either directly involved in or have decent personal knowledge of the case facts. Working titles for those are On The Floor, Beneath The Deck, By The Book, and Behind The Badge. I also have sights on writing The Mother From Hell which is based on a crazy case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy that I unfortunately investigated and got sued over.

My website at DyingWords.net continues to gain traction. I installed a web tracker in April and am pleasantly surprised to see I’ve had over 137,000 visitors during the last eight months. The most popular posts are true stories I’ve dissected like JonBenet Ramsey, Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Manson and Elvis Presley. One post really surprising me is The Guy on the Greyhound Bus which gets twenty or more reads a day. That’s the case where a deranged passenger stabbed, beheaded and cannibalized a fellow rider on a public bus. Go figure.

But, a story getting a lot of attention doesn’t surprise me. That’s the high-profile and unsolved Lindsay Buziak Murder that happened at Victoria, British Columbia in 2008. I took on the task of researching Lindsay’s tragic circumstances, and it swirled me down a rabbit hole I couldn’t have imagined. I’ve met many of Lindsay’s family and friends as well as several suspects. One prime person-of-interest laid a criminal harassment complaint against me as a ruse to get me off her back. The cops said it was a civil matter, and I told her to sue me as I’d love to get her under oath and on the witness stand.

When I started privately investigating Lindsay’s murder, I was unprepared for her bizarre father. He’s been the drive to keep Lindsay’s memory alive by narcissistically placing himself front and center media-wise including his recent appearance on the Dr. Phil TV show. I was pathologically lied to and then personally attacked online by the dad. I had a real hard time coming to grip with how intentionally misleading he’s been in the years since his daughter was killed. It’s a sad and strange story on its own.

What I can say about Lindsay Buziak’s murder is that I may not be able to truthfully write the public story as the circumstances now sit. I have a lot of information about this awful mess, the motive for the crime and, with probable certainty, who the conspirators are. If I publish what I’ve learned and what people close to the story have candidly told me – to tell the truthful and accurate story – I might compromise an active police investigation and that can not happen.

What I can say about Lindsay’s case is she was a totally innocent victim of an elaborate conspiracy to frame her as a police agent. That was to cover up and protect a real police informant who double-crossed an arm of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in a multi-million dollar cocaine loss. Yes, the story is that involved and complicated. I will also say, with probable certainty, the two people directly involved in stabbing Lindsay to death are a Mexican brother and sister pair who are now long gone from Canada. However, the co-conspirators who fed Lindsay to the killers are still active in the Victoria area. One of them checks my blog daily.

Moving on to other writing, I’ve spent the past few months digging into nerd-stuff like chemistry, biology and physics. I’ve also been snooping into philosophy, psychology, astronomy and anatomy. No, this is not some sort of weird enlightenment or cautious coming-out. It’s a serious look at the human condition centering on consciousness.

I’m preparing a paper with the working title Interconnect – Finding Your Place in a Conscious Universe which is more for my own curiosity than anything else. I’ll share it on an upcoming blog post as a PDF download as it looks like it’s going to be fairly lengthy – probably 20-30K words. It’s kind of a “What’s the Meaning and Purpose of Life” which has been sixty years in the making. I was hoping to wrap it soon, but I got three new books for Christmas – Origin Story (A Big History of Everything), When The Earth Had Two Moons and Lonely Planet’s The Universe Travel Guide.

I also want to share ongoing successes of my writer friends. First and foremost is Sue Coletta. If you regularly follow DyingWords.net, no doubt you’ll know Sue. We’ve collaborated on a few things, and I’ve watched Sue’s progression from her first book to her rise as a sought-after source for an upcoming true crime story commissioned by a major traditional publisher. In my opinion, Sue Coletta is one of the most talented and promising writers out there today.

Rachel Amphlett is another super-talent in the crime writing business. I had the pleasure of co-hosting an indie-publishing seminar with Rachel, and I have to say how impressed I am with her work not to mention her business savvy and drive. Rachel’s main stories are her Detective Kay Hunter series and her Dan Taylor espionage series. Rachel also writes stand-alone books in the crime thriller genre.

I’ve developed an online friendship with Caroline Mitchell. Caroline and I have something in common besides writing. She’s a retired detective from a UK police force who recommissioned herself as a crime writer. A really good and successful crime writer, I must say. Caroline has her DI Amy Winter books like The Secret Child and Truth and Lies which have been optioned for TV productions. Her stories Witness and Silent Victim also proved to be top bestsellers.

John Ellsworth is another writer I’ve got to know over the net. John is a recovering lawyer who writes legal thrillers. He tells me he set out to supplement his retirement income by a few hundred a month. Well, that took off on him. John is now one of the leading indie authors making Amazon money with his Thaddeus Murfee character.

While I’m name-dropping, have you heard of Adam Croft? Here’s a guy who’s done well for himself in the crime thriller world. Adam and I cross-blogged back in the old days when he wasn’t famous and I had hair – well before Adam became the number one book seller on all of Amazon with Her Last Tomorrow. Now Adam has sold nearly two million books and his list keeps growing.

And then there’s Joe Broadmeadow. Funny how old cops attract. Joe’s a retired captain from the East Providence, Rhode Island, detective division. He’s found his stride with true crime books like Choices – You Make ‘Em, You Own ‘Em and It’s Just The Way It Was. Joe’s also penned thrillers like Collision Course, Silenced Justice and A Change Of Hate.

I have a few more writing projects planned for 2020. One is an article for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Quarterly publication. An editor at the Quarterly is an former colleague of mine, and he asked me to contribute a piece on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) about how I personally coped after The Teslin Lake Incident where my close friend and partner, Mike Buday, was murdered beside me and I was nearly shot as well. This is part of a series the Quarterly is doing on modern approaches to managing operational stress injuries (OSI).

I’m also guesting a post on what detectives and writers have in common. This is for a very high-profile website catering to writers, not detectives. The site has been recognized as one of the top ten influencers in the writing business, and you’ll have to wait for April to see who this is.

On the writing business side, this coming year I plan to expand from publishing solely on Amazon. (Going Wide) You’ll soon find my indie works on Kobo, Nook, B&N, Apple and Google as eBooks. I’m also planning to offer most in print form and maybe a test on audio.

Speaking of audio, I want to run this by you. I’ve been mulling the idea of taking my most popular blog posts and turning them into podcasts. Some of these posts have had thousands of reads and hundreds of shares. Podcasting seems to be a hit with folks who don’t want to spend the time reading but are ripe for listening while driving, walking or whatever. What do you think? Would you tune in to a DyingWords podcast?

Anyway, that’s what’s happening  with Garry Rodgers’ writing for 2020. I hope you have a safe, healthy, happy, purposeful and prosperous new year. And thank you – thank you so much – for supporting my stuff!  ~Garry