1845: John Tawell, the man in the Kwaker garb 1938: Arkadi Berdichevsky, Jon Utley’s father

1935: Thomasina Sarao, miscalculated

March 29th, 2010 Headsman

Shortly after midnight this date* in 1935, the career of 71-year-old Canadian executioner Arthur Ellis came to an end with the botched hanging of Thomasina Sarao.

All a simple matter of physics.

When the old-school “drop ’em from a cart” method of strangulation hanging gave way to the “new drop”, the hangman’s art eventually came to encompass the scientific application of the humane level of force to the doomed person’s vertebrae.

Something in the neighborhood of 1,000 ft/lbs was about right. Too little, and the poor wretch strangles to death. Too much, and you rip the head right off.

Thomasina Sarao got too much, and it ripped her head right off.

They’d worked everything out to a handy table, see, where if you weighed this much, they knew to drop you this far, derived from the formula

1020/weight in pounds (less 14 lbs for the head) = drop in feet

Except in the widow Mrs. Sarao’s case — the Italian immigrant had offed her husband to collect the insurance** — Arthur Ellis was given the wrong weight for his client. He coiled a noose for a woman 32 pounds lighter than the person who actually mounted the scaffold, and he therefore made it more than a foot too long.

That whole “ripping off a woman’s head” thing really harshed everyone’s vibe. So, although hangings had long been moved behind prison walls, the Canadian government stopped the ongoing practice of allowing members of the general public to obtain tickets to witness them.

“Arthur Ellis” — it was actually a trade name he’d made up, and so dignified that one of his successors used the same alias — died three years after his grisly retirement party. He’s saluted by the Arthur Ellis Awards, the Crime Writers of Canada’s annual awards: a little trophy of a guy getting hanged.

[Ellis Trophy][Ellis Trophy]
Winners of the Arthur Ellis Award, like Robert J. Sawyer, get this trinket to commemorate. At least the little wooden fetish has his head attached to his shoulders. (Images (c) Robert J. Sawyer, and used with permission.)

* March 28 is sometimes reported, but the period press reports (like this wire story) seem to agree on the 29th, as does this index of Canadian executions.

** Two male co-conspirators, Leone Gagliardi and Angelo Donofrio, were also hanged for the same crime, a few minutes before Sarao on a different scaffold.

On this day..

Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Botched Executions,Canada,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Execution,Hanged,History,Milestones,Murder,Notable Participants,Power,Women

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

12 thoughts on “1935: Thomasina Sarao, miscalculated”

  1. james7650 says:

    Wenn Sie auf diese Nachricht stoßen und versuchen, einen registrierten Führerschein ohne Prüfungen zu kaufen, dann sind wir für Sie da. Klicken Sie einfach auf den Link unten, um mit einem Agenten zu sprechen. Der Agent wird Sie dabei unterstützen, den Führerschein zu erhalten
    https://fuhrerscheinkf.com/

  2. hans457 says:

    Achetez un permis de conduire réel et enregistré sur notre site Web sans passer d’examens ni passer le test pratique. tout ce dont nous avons besoin, ce sont vos données et elles seront enregistrées dans le système dans les huit prochains jours. Le permis de conduire doit subir la même procédure d’enregistrement que ceux délivrés dans les auto-écoles,
    https://acheterpermis-conduire.com/

  3. jhgdrtyt666 says:

    Als u dit bericht tegenkomt waarin u probeert een geregistreerd rijbewijs te kopen zonder de examens, dan staan ??wij voor u klaar. Klik eenvoudig op de onderstaande link om met een agent te praten. de agent zal u begeleiden bij het verkrijgen van het rijbewijs
    https://belgischrijbewijs.com/

  4. hans457 says:

    Wenn Sie auf diese Nachricht stoßen und versuchen, einen registrierten Führerschein ohne Prüfungen zu kaufen, dann sind wir für Sie da. Klicken Sie einfach auf den Link unten, um mit einem Agenten zu sprechen. Der Agent wird Sie dabei unterstützen, den Führerschein zu erhalten
    https://fuhrerschenkaufen.com/

  5. hans3454 says:

    Se ti imbatti in questo messaggio che cerca di acquistare una patente di guida registrata senza gli esami, allora siamo qui per te, fai semplicemente clic sul collegamento in basso per parlare con un agente. l’agente ti guiderà su come ottenere la patente di guida
    https://compropatente.com/

  6. Se ti imbatti in questo messaggio che cerca di acquistare una patente di guida registrata senza gli esami, allora siamo qui per te, fai semplicemente clic sul collegamento in basso per parlare con un agente. l’agente ti guiderà su come ottenere la patente di guida
    https://comprarelapatenteb.com/

  7. hans3454 says:

    Se você se deparar com esta mensagem buscando comprar uma carteira de motorista registrada sem os exames então estamos aqui para ajudá-lo, basta clicar no link abaixo para falar com um agente. o agente irá orientá-lo sobre como obter a carteira de motorista
    https://imt-cartadeconducao.com/

  8. lawguy says:

    JC are you looking for a before or after pic?

    1. Jean-Claude Castex says:

      Before of course.

  9. JC Castex says:

    Is there any picture of Tomasina Sarao ? Thankas

  10. Marc Patenaude says:

    The Montreal Gazette of 30 March 1935 reports the execution as taking place on 29 March, not the 28th

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Calendar

Archives

Categories

Execution Playing Cards

Exclusively available on this site: our one-of-a-kind custom playing card deck.

Every card features a historical execution from England, France, Germany, or Russia!