“What you are about to witness is a blot upon the civilization of the twentieth century."- Sing Sing Deputy Warden Spencer Miller, Addressing Antonio Pontón’s execution witnesses on January 7, 1916” Historical FictionWardenSing Sing Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“In Sing Sing Prison, in a ghastly white room stands a chair. Its parts are heavy joinings of oak, riveted and screwed together; its strong legs fastened to the floor with teeth and claws of steel. It bites into the marrow of men with fangs of fire. For this is the faldstool of bloody human justice, the prayer-chair of man’s vengeance upon man. Into it are strapped ... men who have killed other men. In it, for a high moral purpose, erring human lives are shocked across the barrier into night and the grave. - Edward H. Smith (1918)” Historical FictionDeath PenaltyElectric Chair Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“The Death House back then was a self-contained unit, with its own hospital, kitchen, exercise yard and visiting room. The cells were inadequate, dark, and did not have proper sanitary facilities or ventilation. One window and skylight furnished the ventilation and light of the entire unit. Twelve cells were on the lower tier, six on each side, facing each other, with a narrow corridor between them. Five cells were located in an upper tier. There was an area the prisoners called the Dance Hall that housed a prisoner to be executed on his last day. The narrow corridor connected the Dance Hall to the execution room, where the Electric Chair resided. The prisoners named this corridor the Last Mile or the Green Mile, because this was the last walk a prisoner would take all the way to the small green riveted door at the end of the corridor, on his way to the execution room.” Historical FictionElectric ChairSing SingDeath HouseGreen Mile Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“The physiological effects of an electrocution are severe and painful. Besides launching the body into violent convulsions, the electrocution of a human being causes massive destruction throughout the body.” Historical FictionExecutionElectric ChairElectrocution Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“Antonio looked down, silent, as Shillitoni kept talking. There he was, among cold-blooded killers, talking to a gangster. A much different picture than a year prior. “Can’t trust priests, can’t trust cops either. Can’t trust nobody! Whaddaya say?” “I am not like you,” Antonio said. “I’m not like them, either. That’s what I say. I am not a cold-blooded killer!” “Ya killed, you a killa! There’s not’ng more to it!” Shillitoni said.” Historical FictionSing Sing Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“There is always hope for a reprieve, my friend,” Stielow said. “You have to get the governor to pardon you if the courts fail on you. This is an unlikely thing, although possible. The last thing you hold on to ‘til the last second is hope. Hope is what keeps us doomsmen sane, for the most part. A miracle.” Historical FictionSing Sing Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“No person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law … - Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution” ConstitutionHistorical FictionFifth Amendment Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. - Sixth Amendment, United States Constitution” ConstitutionHistorical FictionSixth Amendment Book:Antonio's Will Source: Antonio's Will