In most countries it’s spelled “garrotte” but here in the U.S. it’s “garrote.” I’ll probably go back and forth between the two. Apologies for any mistakes in formatting, spelling, etc. It’s been a VERY long time since I tried to put a post like this together and I’m very out of practice. It feels pretty choppy, but if I get too perfectionistic I probably won’t post it at all. So I’m just going to post this, even though it’s not as well put together as I’d like it to be.
From weirdhistoryfacts.com
"The Vile Garrote was a procedure for executing a convicted person by compressing his throat with a rope twisted with a stick, with a metal ring or by pressing the neck with a screw.
The Vile Garrote in itself, sometimes known as the club, or clubbing, was not an instrument of torture: it was an attempt to make execution by hanging more ‘humane’. In the hands of a competent executioner, a prisoner could retain some form of dignity during his death. It was a 'merciful' way to allow the prisoner to die by strangulation, yes, but sitting down, in contrast to the degrading kicking of the hanged man."
http://espressostalinist.com/genocide/philippine-american-war/ https://weird-history-facts.com/vile-garrote-spains-capital-punishment/)
Execution by garrote, Bilibid Prison, Manila c. 1899
From capitalpunishmentuk.org: "In the original Spanish version of execution by garrote, the prisoner was seated on top of a short post with his back to the main post and a rope loop was placed round his neck and around the post. The executioner twisted a stick inserted in the loop to tighten the rope and strangle the prisoner.
As in most countries, a more humane method of execution was sought and various improvements to the garrotte were made. The next form of garrotte comprised a wooden stool on which the prisoner sat with his back to the post. In some later instances, a strong wooden chair was used. The condemned was strapped at the wrists, arms, waist, and legs and the hinged iron collar closed around their neck. A screw operated by a handle or a weighted lever connected to a spike or a small star-shaped blade ran through the post. When the screw/lever mechanism was operated, the blade entered the criminal's neck and severed the spinal column, in an attempt to ensure that the prisoner did not strangle to death.
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/garrotte.html https://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0108134&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=1
In some versions, two brass collars were used. One collar was attached to the lever whilst the other was fixed to the post. Both collars were hinged to admit the prisoner's neck. When all preparations were complete, the executioner operated the mechanism forcing one collar outwards whilst the other remained stationary thus, if correctly adjusted, dislocating the prisoner's neck and causing immediate unconsciousness followed by death.”
An execution by garrotting of a robber named Jose de Roxas in Mexico in the early 1800's was witnessed and described by journalist, Richard Ford, as follows: ‘The condemned man mounted the platform and was seated on a short post with his back to a strong upright post. The executioner fastened the iron collar round his neck. When all was ready, he took the lever in both hands and at the pre-arranged signal, turned the lever so drawing the collar tight whilst his assistant threw a black cloth over Roxas's face. A convulsive pressure of the hands and a heaving of the chest were the only visible signs of the passing of the robber's spirit. After a pause of a few seconds, the executioner peeped behind the cloth and after giving another turn to the screw, removed the cloth. The dead man was slightly convulsed, the mouth open and the eyeballs were turned into their sockets.’
The first woman to be garotted was Juana Rivero in Madrid on the 3rd of November 1824 for robbery. Mariana Pineda, 27, became the first woman to suffer for treason when she was executed on the 26th of May 1831 in Andalusia. Mariana had embroidered a flag with the words, "Equality, Liberty, Law." The flag was burned in front of her while she was being executed. It was reported that the spike of the garrotte pierced her neck and protruded through her mouth. Afterward, as customary, her body was taken away, stripped naked (the clothes went to charity), wrapped in a bedsheet, and placed in a cheap pine coffin for burial.Twenty-eight-year-old Higinia Balaguer, a Spanish maid, became the last woman to suffer public garrotting when she was executed on July the 19th, 1890 at 4:00 a.m., for her part in a robbery murder. Her execution took place before several thousand spectators at the “Field of the Guards” in Madrid. The actual garotte was mounted on the platform of scaffold about five feet high, reached by seven steps. PUBLIC execution ended in Spain with the garrotting of Lluis Más and three others, on the 4th of May 1897 in Barcelona. Silvestre Lluis became the first to suffer in private when he was garrotted in Barcelona for a murder on the 15th of June 1897.
Image from the Philippines c. 1927
Garrotting was last used in Spain on the 2nd of March 1974, when two men were executed on the same day. Salvador Puig Antich was put to death in Barcelona, by A. López Guerra, for the shooting of a police officer during a robbery the previous year and Heinz Chez suffered in Tarragona, at the hands of J. Monero Renomo, for the terrorist murder of a Civil Guard Lieutenant. The garotte used for Antich’s execution is now on display in the Fundación Camilo José Cela, in Iria Flavia.
https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/garrotte.html https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/execution-with-the-garrotte-on-the-philippines-1927-news-photo/542378697?language=fr
The last Spanish executions (in 1975) could not use this method because of a bureaucratic problem. At this time in Spain, there was only one executioner, and the condemned were in three different cities, Madrid, Barcelona and Burgos. Thus they were carried out by firing squad on the 27th of September 1975 when five men were shot for terrorist related murders (two female accomplices were reprieved).Three of the men were shot in Madrid: they were 24 year old José Humberto Francisco Baena Alonso, 27 year old Ramón García Sanz and 21 year old José Luis Sánchez-Bravo Sollas, all of whom had murdered policemen in 1975. Twenty one year old Juan Paredes Manotas was shot in Barcelona for a similar crime, while 33 year old Angel Otaegui Echevarría was executed in Burgos. Capital punishment was effectively abolished in 1978. The garrotte was used in Spanish colonies, e.g. Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. It also was the official method for ordinary criminals in Portugal up to abolition in 1867. https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/garrotte.html
Philippines, late nineteenth century https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/man-sits-bound-up-by-a-garrote-the-spanish-method-of-news-photo/530052515
