I'll admit it.
I'm all for public hangings.
Call me crass. I'm like that.
Public hangings never have seemed to do anything more then draw a big crowd of people to the hanging of a thief and pull in dozens of pick pockets to work the crowd.
Last hanging we had in my State was inside the prison yard in Concord
some time in 1930 decade. This was not a public out in the city square thing, it was suppose to be private to some extent.
There just happend to be a hill behind the prison with perhaps 15 homes that over looked the prison yard. The owners made a killing selling spaces on their roofs, up in their trees,
renting out tall house painting ladders and home made scaffolds.
All told about a thousand people got to see the show.
The one hanging that interests me was the hanging of the woman, name escapes me at this time of the older woman who owned the boarding house John Wilkes Booth lived in, she was the FIRST woman to be hung in the United States.
It was a very strange affair, the evidence against her consisted of a small picture of him she wore in a locket.
John was a very well known actor and devilishly handsome, woman, even the old and foolish had a crush on him.
Seems he around this time met Lucy Hale who's father was --I believe Governor of New Hampshire and they became engaged to marry.
It did not take but a few hours after the shooting before Lucy was on her way to France and little is known about what became of her.
There are photos of the hanging , I trying to remember here, think there were 4-6 others hung at the same time.
I know today there are tours that follow her life, quite expensive, that go from Maryland to DC.
Back to the Saudis and their form of capital punishment, The punishment of being beheaded may in fact be more civilized then the gas chamber, electric chair or hanging.
What ever is done with the body after death is for show, this seldom influences anyone to change their evil ways.
Only punishment I can think of that may stop a monster is full castration. I believe this was the punishment used by the Aztecs on their monsters. Men who have to squat to pee are noticed right smartly and are a better indication of their capability's to harm others then some headless body rotting on a pole.
BTW are they still turning up body's in the midwestern mans home, count yesterday was up to 10.