1939: Pete Catalina and Angelo Agnes, Colorado murderers
Add comment September 29th, 2012 Headsman
CANON CITY, Col. Sept. 30 (AP) — Two convicted murderers died in the lethal gas chamber and a cardiogram, a record of heart action, showed that one of them died without fear.
Pete Catalina, 41, a Salida (Col.) pool hall operator convicted of shooting a man in an argument over a 50-cent stack of poker chips, agreed to meet death wearing equipment recording his last heart beats.
Angelo Agnes, 31,* a Denver Negro convicted of slaying his estranged wife, declined to wear the device. Like Catalina, however, he did not fight the lethal fumes and both men were pronounced dead at 8:02 P.M., exactly two minutes after Warden Roy Best released gas into acid containers beneath their chairs.
I.D. Price, an electrical expert who operated the heart recording instruments, said that Catalina’s heart beat appeared strong and even for one minute and 10 seconds, then stopped abruptly when he inhaled the poison fumes. Agnes inhaled the gas 55 seconds after its generation began.
The “quickest and most humane execution we ever had” was later alleged to have experienced a gas leak that caused witnesses to flee their seats.
* Agnes was friendly with Joe Arridy, who had been executed in the same gas chamber earlier that same year.
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Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Botched Executions,Capital Punishment,Colorado,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Disfavored Minorities,Execution,Gassed,Murder,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,USA
Tags: 1930s, 1939, angelo agnes, canon city, cardiogram, joe arridy, pete catalina, roy best, september 29
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