How teen accused of murder became first ever to survive gruelling death row method

Capital punishment has existed for hundreds of years, with written evidence of its use stretching back for centuries.

As of January this year, 2,095 US inmates are awaiting the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The population of death row prisoners has 'declined for 20 consecutive years,' the Center says, while some 23 states have abolished the practice altogether.

Yet the phrase 'death row' only really became commonplace from 1933, after the trial and sentencing of bricklayer Giuseppe Zangara.

The 32-year-old had attempted to assassinate US president Frankin D Roosevelt but missed and killed Mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak instead.

Some 13 years on from that landmark case, a Louisiana teenager accused of murder made headlines when he survived a particularly gruelling execution method.

Willie Francis, 16, was accused of shooting dead his former employer, pharmacy owner Andrew Thomas, in 1944.

Thomas' murder left police stumped for nine months - that was, until they arrested young Francis. Cops claimed the teen was carrying Thomas' wallet in his pocket, yet no evidence of this was ever provided in court.

The teen supposedly admitted to killing Thomas in two written confessions, but went on to plead not guilty at trial. Yet he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by electric chair in May 1946.

In recent times, Francis' guilt has been disputed.

Willie Francis had to face the electric chair twice (Tony Garcia/Getty Images)

As Francis was strapped into the device, preparing to take his final breath, he instead received a different kind of shock.

A fatal surge of electricity was administered, yet Francis screamed and screamed, and the execution was halted.

Francis later described what it was like to survive the execution, saying: "The best way I can describe it is: Whamm! Zst!

"It felt like a hundred and a thousand needles and pins were pricking in me all over and my left leg felt like somebody was cutting it with a razor blade.

"I could feel my arms jumping at my sides … I thought for a minute I was going to knock the chair over … I think I must have hollered for them to stop.

Willie Francis was accused of murder (WikiCommons)

"They say I said, 'Take it off! Take it off!' I know that was certainly what I wanted them to do - turn it off."

So, just how did Francis survive a supposedly fatal electric shock?

It was all down to a pair of drunken executioners who had incorrectly set the chair up the night before, meaning it delivered a painful shock, but not enough to kill the then-18-year-old.

The botched execution saw Francis live another year, while his case was taken to the US Supreme Court in hopes of his death penalty being quashed. It was unfortunately rejected, and despite Francis' attorney pushing to challenge the ruling, Francis returned to the electric chair.

He died on May 9, 1947.

Francis became known as 'the teenager who was executed twice'.

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