Aaron Mahnke

It took 11 minutes for Alan Foster to die in the chamber that day.

11 minutes.

In the words of one witness, this was one of the most terrible and horrible things I ever looked at.

And for the record, that particular witness was no stranger to death.

He was none other than the county coroner.

Alan Foster was the first prisoner ever executed by lethal gas in the state of North Carolina.

This case was to set the precedent for all those to come.

But while outrage poured in, the state of North Carolina didn't have time to deal with criticism of their fancy new facility.

Why?

Because they had another condemned man to execute, of course, in just a week's time.

On January 31st of 1936, Ed Jenkins was executed in the same manner.

This time, his death took an excruciating seven and a half minutes, which, compared to Allen's, was celebrated as a success.

The director of the state's penal division was ready to make a formal statement.

Lethal gas, he declared, is here to stay.

We tend to think of ourselves today as more advanced than the Romans.

After all, we don't stuff people into sacks to be flung into the sea.

We certainly don't watch from the sidelines while helpless naked people are thrown into an arena to be mauled by lions.

But then, that image of Alan Foster resurfaces.

A helpless, naked teenager thrown into a chamber to be choked by gas.

And I can't help but feel that we really haven't changed at all.