Gee Jon - Execution

Execution

The California Cyanide Company of Los Angeles, California, was the only distributor of liquid cyanide in the western United States and refused to deliver it to Carson City over liability concerns. The poison was used to eradicate pests from citrus groves in California. Warden Denver S. Dickerson sent his assistant Tom Pickett to Los Angeles to personally pick up 20 pounds of lethal gas, which was contained in a mobile fumigating unit which cost $700. Four guards who did not want to participate in the process had resigned. The officials first attempted to pump poison gas directly into Gee's cell while he was sleeping, but without success because the gas leaked from the cell.

A makeshift gas chamber was set up at the butcher shop of the prison. At least one cat was used to test the lethal effectiveness of the chamber. Gee was to be strapped onto a chair in the chamber, which was eleven feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet high. A small window next to the wooden chair allowed witnesses to look inside. Attendees included news reporters, public health officials and representatives of the U.S. Army. Gee wept as he was placed on the chair until the captain of the guards told him to "Brace up!" At 9:40 a.m. on February 8, 1924, the pump sprayed four pounds of hydrocyanic acid into the chamber. The weather was cold and humid. Because an electric heater failed, the chamber was 52 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the ideal 75 degrees, causing some of the acid to form a puddle on the floor. Gee appeared to lose consciousness in about five seconds, with his head continuing to nod up and down for six minutes. He was completely motionless after ten minutes. Some of the witnesses momentarily thought they smelled the odor of almond blossoms, a telltale sign of cyanide, leaking from the chamber. The warden had the witnesses cleared from the area. At about 10 a.m., a vent was opened and a fan was turned on to discharge the poison gas. The prison staff waited for the remaining puddle of hydrocyanic acid to evaporate before cleaning up the chamber. Gee's body was removed from the chamber at 12:20 p.m. and taken to the prison hospital. A group of seven doctors pronounced him dead, but did not conduct an autopsy on the body out of concern that some remaining gas could be released. Gee was 29 years old when he died.