Killer's horrifying gas chamber execution as onlookers had to be cleared from room
A death row gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison(Image: Getty Images)In the past, the gas chamber was the preferred method of execution in most US States, but the death of serial killer Jimmy Lee Gray changed all that.Even before committing the crime which would lead to his capital punishment, Gray was already a notorious and violent criminal, known locally for petty crimes and having a reputation as a violent child.At just 19, this violent streak escalated when he brutally murdered his then 16-year-old girlfriend, Elda Louise Prince, in Arizona. He strangled her, slit her throat and dumped her body.Despite the savagery of his actions, Gray was allowed to walk free after serving just seven years of a 20-to-life sentence. Less than a year after being released, he struck again.On 25 June 1976, three-year-old Deressa Jean Scales disappeared after being left unattended outside for 10 minutes.For a while, her whereabouts remained a mystery, but it soon became clear that the worst had happened. Gray had managed to entice the child into his car, driven to a secluded wooded area, sexually assaulted her and forced her face into mud until she suffocated, reports the Mirror.Jimmy Lee Gray was put to death in the gas chamber(Image: Wikipedia)When detectives questioned him, he broke down in a lift, blurting out: "If I take you to her, will you help me?', eventually leading police straight to the child's body.His actions were so appalling that even Gray's own mum pleaded with the courts not to show leniency, penning a letter to officials urging them to "show no mercy."However, nothing could brace witnesses for the horrific scene that unfolded within the old gas chamber at Mississippi State Penitentiary.Behind the execution chair was a vertical steel pole. Crucially, there was no headrest, no strap, and thus nothing to prevent Gray's skull from striking metal if he started to convulse.Close up of the chair in a Gas Chamber(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)At 12:10am, cyanide pellets fell into acid beneath his seat. As the deadly gas ascended, Gray instantly began convulsing violently.His face contorted in pain. His body strained against the straps. Then, with a sudden jerk, he flung his head backwards, repeatedly bashing his skull against the metal pole, groaning in agony each time.With a number of horrified onlookers present, officials decided to evacuate the room as spectators couldn't stomach the sight of the suffering.Doctors reported his heart continued to beat for a torturous 12 more minutes before he was finally declared dead. A leading execution expert later labelled the method "so painful we wouldn't use it on laboratory animals."Within a year, Mississippi took steps to abolish gas executions for new sentences.
