Failed Executions

In 1885, John Lee survived three attempts at hanging, earning him the nickname "The Man They Couldn't Hang."

The electric chair execution of Willie Francis in 1946 failed because the equipment malfunctioned.

In 2014, Clayton Lockett survived for 40 minutes a firing squad execution in Utah.

A failed beheading in 16th-century Scotland led to a noblewoman surviving execution and being released.

Joseph Samuel, an Australian convict in the 19th century, survived a hanging attempt when the rope snapped multiple times.