Gas Chamber

In 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced as Nevada thinking it would be a more humane way of executing its inmates. Gee Jon was the first person executed by lethal gas. The state tried to pump cyanide gas into Jons cell while he slept. This proved impossible because the gas leaked from his cell, so the gas chamber was constructed. Today, five states authorize lethal gas as a method of execution, but all have lethal injection as an alternative method. A federal court in California found this method to be cruel and unusual punishment. The last use of a gas chamber was on March 3, 1999, when Walter LaGrand, a German national, was executed in Arizona.