The next morning, the New York Times called the execution a “disgrace to civilization … so terrible that words cannot begin to describe it.” The irony, lost on no one, was that until that morning, electrocution had been promoted as a more humane form of capital punishment. Witnesses reported being overcome by the smell of molten flesh and charred body hair those who tried to leave found that the doors were locked. 2000 volts of alternating current ruptured Kellmer’s capillaries, forming subcutaneous pools of blood that began to burst as his skin was torn apart. In a panic, the warden doubled the current. 1000 volts of electricity, tested the day before on a luckless horse, knocked Kellmer unconscious, but did not stop his heart. By all accounts, the execution was a horrific success. The first person to die in an electric chair was William Kellmer, a peddler from Philadelphia who murdered his common law wife in the spring of 1889.
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