10 reasons think the massive 20th‑century wars may have been meticulously plotted, and here’s why.

10 Reasons think: The Grand Conspiracy Overview

It’s one of the most popular conspiracy theories, largely because a lot of the claims have at least partial facts to them. Some believe that events of the 20th century, in particular the two global conflicts that left millions upon millions slaughtered and changed the face and direction of the entire planet, were not only orchestrated, with the same people controlling both sides, but were decades in the planning.

10 The ‘Hidden Predictions’ Of Disreali

Benjamin Disraeli is widely seen by most in the political world as one of the most influential Britons of all time, and certainly of the 19th century. He served as British prime minister twice and was usually at the heart of the political change and events of the era, not just in Westminster but in Europe, amid an ever‑changing world in light of the increasingly strong United States.

In 1844, Disraeli released a work of fiction entitled Coningsby, or The New Generation, which was a political, current events, thriller type of work. To some, however, the writings contained hidden truths and even predictions of a world to come. The novel spoke of “unseen forces” who control the everyday goings‑on from the shadows, unknown to anyone, even most politicians. These forces would also look to “shape Europe’s affairs and secret revolutionary movements.”

While it is a safe bet, given his intelligence and experience in the political world of the mid‑ to late 1800s, that Disraeli would have had a fair idea of how certain events were likely to progress, some believed his notions were a little too accurate to be dismissed. In light of his statements about “revolutions,” we look at perhaps the biggest revolution of the 20th century in our next entry.

9 The Seeds Of The Russian Revolution

Although the Russian Revolution, in basic Reader’s Digest terms, took place in 1917 following the horrendous conditions on the Russian front lines during World War I, anti‑establishment sentiment had been building for decades. And what’s more, it would appear that outside involvement was indirectly responsible for at least part of it.

As we will look at a little in our next entry, Russia was encouraged to sign what were presented to them as “mutually beneficial” pacts with countries such as France and Britain. In reality, these agreements would isolate them and put them at odds with long‑term allies such as Germany. They were also “encouraged” into a war with the Japanese from 1904 to 1905, a war that deeply demoralized the nation and led to an unsuccessful uprising.

What’s interesting about this conflict, in what is an apparent recurring theme throughout the 1900s, is which parties were responsible for financing the Russo‑Japanese War. The Russians (officially the Romanov royal family of Russia) received funding from the European banks of the Rothschild family. The Japanese were funded by an American bank called Kuhn, Loeb & Co.—which was controlled by the Rothschilds, the very same family who controlled the European banks. Officially, Jacob Schiff represented Kuhn, Loeb, & Co., and it is well‑established that the Schiff and Rothschild families share ties going back hundreds of years.

8 Pacts And Treaties Of The Early 1900s

As we mentioned above, the early 1900s saw a series of international pacts signed between various European countries, including Russia. The idea of these pacts, at least officially, was to maintain peace in the region.

However, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria‑Hungary would declare war on Serbia due to their guilt in the killing. Bound by their pact, Russia came to the aid of Serbia. And so it went on, with each country “bound” to come to the aid of another. In short, the French and British had to aid Russia, and in turn Serbia, while the Central Powers—Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria‑Hungary—would side with each other against them.

Incidentally, once the Russians were officially at war on the side of the Allies, they were armed by a company called Vickers & Maxim, which was controlled by a gentleman named Ernest Cassel. Cassel, in turn, was a longtime business associate of the Rothschilds and had a history of dealings with Kuhn, Loeb & Co. There were considerable delays in supplying these weapons to the Russians, which accelerated the complete breakdown of morale (some soldiers were sent to the front unarmed) and, in turn, sparked the eventual revolution. Many researchers, albeit retrospectively, suggested this “delay” was intentional.

7 The Rothschilds And Funding Of Both Sides

As we mentioned with the Russo‑Japanese War, the Rothschild family appeared to have funded both sides, albeit indirectly. This trend would continue with World War I and specifically World War II.

While Standard Oil provided the funding, hardware, supplies, and weapons for the Allied forces, IG Farben would do the same for the Nazis. (As we will look at a little later, much of the Nazi funding also came from the Soviet Union, adding a third dimension to the already muddled affair.) IG Farben and Standard Oil were both companies that were owned or controlled through majority ownership by the Rothschild family.

In fact, it wasn’t just the global conflicts that had funding from surprising sources. The Russian Revolution, a rebellion driven by communist ideology, received the bulk of its funding from the capitalist banks of the West, as we will look at next.

6 The Capitalist‑Funded Russian Revolution

Perhaps the first two people who come to mind when talking of the Russian Revolution are Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin. Both were staunch communists who were, it would appear, the driving forces behind the establishment of the Soviet Union and the questionable deaths of the Romanov royal family. However, while 1917’s revolutions were taking place on the streets of Russia, both Trotsky and Lenin were safe in their respective beds in the “evil” capitalist West.

Furthermore, each received substantial financial backing from their capitalist “adversaries” upon their return to Russia. For example, Lenin would arrive from the “sanctuary of the financial elite,” Switzerland, with the funding from both the Federal Reserve and the City of London. A US Congress report from 1919 shows deposits of substantial amounts of money (millions of dollars) in a secret bank account to be used by Lenin or Trotsky.

Trotsky, incidentally, would even arrive in Russia off the back of a US passport—one personally issued for him by President Woodrow Wilson. He also had $10,000 in cash, another gift from the US government.

5 World War I Set The Stage For World War II (Purposely?)

By the end of World War I, not only were millions of people dead, their lives needlessly ended, but Europe would never be the same again. Just to appreciate how drastically the Treaty of Versailles changed Europe, nine new countries emerged from the ruins. Many of them were restored nations that once existed before being absorbed into the Central Powers of Europe. The balance of power had drastically changed.

Furthermore, this change was not yet complete, as further upheaval and the even worse horrors of World War II were a mere two decades away. It is reasonable to suggest that the destruction and then the reparations that followed intentionally lit the fuse for further conflict, particularly in Germany, where Adolf Hitler would use the crippled German economy to his advantage in his sweep to power. Once there, he would begin his rampage over Europe, claiming past “empires” as part of the new Germany. However, the initial assault on Europe, specifically Eastern Europe, was not just a German offensive.

4 Soviet‑Nazi Pacts

In a similar way to how many pacts were signed in the run‑up to the World War I, in the decade before World War II, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union would sign various pacts and treaties of their own.

These treaties, such as the Molotov‑Ribbentrop Pact or the German‑Soviet Credit Agreement, would guarantee that neither country would go to the aid of an enemy of the other. They also looked out for each other’s interests, while “turning a blind eye” to any indiscretions of the other. In addition, the agreements allowed for the transferring of materials such as rubber and steel, as well as money, from one country to the other with no disruption.

The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had quietly created a “sphere of influence” throughout Eastern Europe, one that would be detrimental to the power and influence of Britain and France. With this in mind, it is also worth remembering that the invasion of Poland was not just by Germany. Soviet forces invaded from the other side. They would also take control of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, while the Germans pummeled the French.

3 Soviets ‘Armed’ The Nazis

Even after the Nazis’ intentions were clear, and after Britain had declared war on them in response, the Soviet Union would still make deals with them. And these deals, whether intentional or not, would greatly assist in helping Nazi Germany to build up their arms as quickly and as powerfully as they did. In fact, some historians will tell you bluntly that without these pacts and Soviet assistance, the rise of Nazi Germany, at least in the form the world saw it, wouldn’t have been possible.

The 1940 German‑Soviet Commercial Agreement made the movement of oil, raw materials for weapons production, and even grain to feed Nazi soldiers far easier. And the materials, food, and funding moved regularly and as required. In return, Nazi Germany allowed the Russians access to their scientists’ leading research.

While the ideologies of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union appeared to be worlds apart, they weren’t—at least not according to Stalin’s vision of the world, which we will look at in our next entry.

2 Nazi Germany‑Soviet Communist Ideology

As we mentioned, the Soviet Union did all but actively support the Nazi invasions, instead launching their own separate offensives, laying claim to territories they had long coveted. However, according to some, Stalin and other high‑ranking Soviet officials were greatly impressed with Nazi Germany. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Soviet premier Vyacheslav Molotov gave several deeply passionate and supportive speeches on the subject of Nazism and Nazi Germany. He would at one stage suggest that to “fight [Nazism] was a crime.”

It is also worth noting how similar the methods used by the Soviet Union were to those of the Nazis, such as their propaganda. Many Jewish people would flee Stalin’s Russia and into the arms of the Nazis. Others were turned over to the Nazis by Soviet troops.

Some researchers also claim that Stalin was so enamored with Nazi Germany that when intelligence reached him telling of a surprise invasion by the Nazis, he delayed a response, believing there had been a mistake. Ultimately, the Nazis would make considerable advances into Russia, but by December 1941, the Soviet troops were actively pushing them back. It is an interesting notion to think what might have happened if Hitler had not invaded the Soviet Union when he did. However, if you subscribe to the conspiracy theory of “unseen forces” directing events, the choice may not have been his to make.

1 IG Farben And Standard Oil

Okay, so we have mentioned that the above companies, which were essentially owned by the Rothschilds, were responsible for the funding of both sides of World War II. It is from this financial arrangement that much of the steam for the conspiracy theories involving certain major 20th‑century conflicts stem from, and it is easy to see why. Incidentally, not only were IG Farben responsible for the funding of the Nazi war machine, but they were also responsible for the death camps set up by the Nazis throughout Europe. Many conspiracy theorists suggest that these death camps were a way for otherwise “Western” corporate families to experiment with eugenics, something they purportedly continued under the CIA and such projects as Operation Paperclip.

Many US soldiers in Germany, for example, reported how IG Farben buildings were uncannily untouched and unscathed in surroundings that were otherwise devastated. Both IG Farben and Standard Oil also made millions of dollars in the rebuilding projects that followed the war, not to mention the arms race that the Cold War would bring on the world for most of the latter half of the 20th century.

When you hear the phrase “top 10 poorly” you might picture a list of epic missteps, and that’s exactly what we have here: a countdown of the ten most ill‑conceived battles in history. From colonial skirmishes to world‑war carnage, each clash proves that even the best‑trained troops can’t compensate for a commander’s lack of foresight.

Why These Top 10 Poorly Planned Battles Matter

10 Battle of Fredericksburg (American Civil War)

First up, the Battle of Fredericksburg, a classic case of a commander refusing to learn from his own disaster. General Ambrose Burnside, famous for the side‑burns that later bore his name, launched a series of futile assaults up a steep, stone‑walled ridge known as Marye’s Heights. Despite clear warnings from subordinates like the bold “Fighting Joe” Hooker, Burnside pressed on, sending wave after wave of Union soldiers into a murderous killing field.

The Confederate defenders, led by Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet, held the high ground with artillery that rained death on the attackers. The Union troops never got closer than forty yards to the wall before being cut down, turning the engagement into a grim turkey shoot.

Casualties were staggering: roughly 1,300 Union dead and a staggering 10,000 wounded, while Confederate losses were about half that. Burnside’s stubbornness made the battle a textbook example of how not to conduct an assault.

In short, the Union’s failure at Fredericksburg was a direct result of Burnside’s refusal to adapt, cementing his place in history as a commander whose plans were as flawed as his haircut.

9 Battle of Agincourt (Hundred Years War)

Next, we sail back to medieval France for the Battle of Agincourt, where a simple tactical error nearly cost the English a victory they could have easily secured. King Henry V’s army, already weakened by disease and dwindling supplies, was forced to retreat toward Calais when they ran into a French force twice their size.

French Constable Charles d’Albret, instead of laying siege or surrounding the English, chose to confront them head‑on across a narrow, rain‑slick field of mud. The mud turned the battlefield into a quagmire, causing French knights to lose footing and become easy targets for English longbowmen.

The result was a spectacular English triumph: roughly 6,000 French killed, including d’Albret himself, and about 2,000 captured, while the English suffered a mere 400 casualties—a casualty ratio of twenty to one.

8 Battle of Tora Bora (NATO‑Afghan War)

Fast‑forward to the early 2000s, when the United States and its NATO allies launched a rapid campaign against the Taliban and al‑Qaeda in Afghanistan. The mission seemed simple: topple the Taliban, then capture or kill Osama bin Laden hiding in the rugged Tora Bora mountains.

On December 3, 2001, a small team of twenty CIA operatives, supported by about seventy U.S. special‑forces soldiers and relentless airstrikes, began clearing caves and seizing enemy combatants. Their progress was steady, but the operation soon hit a bizarre snag.

Rather than pressing the advantage, U.S. commanders negotiated a truce, ostensibly to allow al‑Qaeda fighters to surrender. In reality, the pause gave bin Laden a chance to slip away, while the limited troops left to guard escape routes were ill‑equipped and poorly motivated.

The battle was eventually declared a victory, but the missed opportunity allowed bin Laden to flee to Pakistan, turning a quick win into a protracted conflict that became America’s longest war.

7 Battle of Lake Trasimene (Second Punic War)

Now we travel to 217 BC, when Hannibal’s Carthaginian army stalked the Roman Republic across northern Italy. The Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius Nepos, finally caught up to Hannibal’s rear guard near the tranquil Lake Trasimene.

Instead of sending a modest scouting party to gauge the enemy’s strength, Flaminius ordered his entire force to charge head‑first into a carefully prepared ambush. He ignored basic reconnaissance, assuming he could simply outflank Hannibal’s troops.

The result was disastrous: half of the 30,000 Roman soldiers were killed or drowned, another 10,000 captured, while Carthage lost only about 2,500 men. Flaminius himself fell in the melee, cementing the battle as a classic example of reckless overconfidence.

Hannibal’s trap at Lake Trasimene remains a textbook case of how neglecting simple intel can lead to catastrophe.

6 Battle of Brooklyn (American Revolution)

Turning to the American Revolution, the Battle of Brooklyn showcases how a lack of foresight almost sank George Washington’s fledgling army. In August 1776, Washington’s 9,000 men found themselves hemmed in by the East River, with British forces poised to strike.

Washington ordered an emergency evacuation, demanding every available boat be gathered and positioned in the East Harbor by nightfall. The British, expecting a swift victory, delayed their attack to wait out a sudden fog, inadvertently granting Washington the time he needed.

Under cover of darkness and fog, Washington’s troops quietly slipped across the river to Manhattan, escaping what could have been a decisive defeat. The narrow escape was only possible because of sheer luck and the British’s miscalculation.

Without that fog, the Continental Army might have been crushed, altering the course of American independence forever.

5 Battle of Hattin (Crusades)

In 1187, Saladin marshaled a massive army to crush the Crusader states, while King Guy of Jerusalem stubbornly refused sound advice. Saladin’s 40,000 troops besieged Tiberias, and many of Guy’s commanders urged a strike at the enemy’s supply lines, especially the scarce water sources in the desert.

Guy, however, dismissed these suggestions as cowardly, opting instead to march his 20,000 men straight toward Tiberias, ignoring the harsh summer heat and the strategic advantage of targeting Saladin’s logistics.

Saladin’s forces blocked access to fresh water and even set the surrounding vegetation ablaze, creating smoke and heat that further weakened the Crusaders. When Guy finally tried to retreat toward the springs at Hattin, his army was already in disarray.Most of the Crusader force was slaughtered on the field, and Saladin captured a relic of the True Cross, marking a decisive Muslim victory and a catastrophic failure for the Crusaders.

4 Battle of Monte Cassino (World War 2)

World War II’s Italian campaign delivered one of the most tragic missteps at Monte Cassino. The Allies, aiming to breach the German “Winter Line,” found their advance stalled by a centuries‑old abbey perched atop a hill, which they mistakenly believed housed enemy troops.

Believing the monks were shielding German forces, Allied commanders ordered a massive bombing raid on February 15, 1944, dropping roughly 1,400 tons of explosives on the historic structure.

The bombing destroyed the abbey, but instead of weakening the Germans, it provided them with perfect rubble for fortified positions. Paratroopers quickly occupied the ruins, turning the site into an even stronger defensive stronghold.

The Allies launched four ferocious assaults over the next three months, suffering over 55,000 casualties, while the Axis endured about 20,000 losses. The battle illustrates how a misinformed decision can amplify bloodshed dramatically.

3 Battle of Karánsebes (Austro‑Turkish War)

Now for a truly bizarre episode from 1788, the Battle of Karánsebes. The Austrian army, numbering around 100,000, set up camp near the town of Karánsebes in present‑day Romania. A small cavalry detachment crossed the Timiș River at night to scout for Ottoman forces, only to encounter local vendors selling alcohol.

Some infantry crossed to join the revelry, while the inebriated cavalry refused to drink. A scuffle broke out, and a stray shot sparked panic. Soldiers shouted “Turks!” and, amid the chaos, both Austrian and Ottoman troops fled, each believing they were under attack.

Compounding the confusion, German‑speaking officers shouted “Halt!” which many non‑German soldiers misheard as “Allah!” leading to further disarray. General Colloredo, convinced a massive Ottoman cavalry charge was imminent, ordered artillery fire that illuminated the entire camp.

The ensuing chaos caused the Austrian army to retreat in terror, firing at imagined foes. Ten thousand soldiers were killed or wounded before the real Ottoman army arrived two days later, marched in, and easily captured Karánsebes.

2 American Civil War)

On July 3, 1863, during the third day of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered an audacious frontal assault that became infamously known as Pickett’s Charge. Lee, having already suffered heavy casualties on both flanks, believed a direct strike at the Union center could break the stalemate.

Despite warnings from subordinates that the attack was suicidal, Lee pressed on. Around 12,500 Confederate troops, led by Major General George Pickett, marched across an open field nearly a mile wide toward fortified Union positions behind a stone wall.

The Union troops, entrenched on high ground and backed by artillery, unleashed devastating fire. Only a handful of Confederates reached the stone wall, known today as the Bloody Angle, before being cut down or captured.

The charge resulted in over 1,100 Confederate deaths, more than 4,000 captured, and a crushing blow to Southern morale. Historian Shelby Foote famously remarked that Gettysburg was the price the South paid for Lee’s relentless ambition.

1 Little Bighorn (US‑Indian Wars)

Rounding out our list is the infamous Battle of Little Bighorn, often called Custer’s Last Stand. In June 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer led a force of 267 soldiers against a combined force of over 2,000 Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors.

Despite being aware of the massive enemy encampment nearby, Custer chose to divide his already outnumbered troops into several detachments and launch a frontal assault. The decision placed his men at the very heart of a vastly superior force with no viable escape route.The Native American warriors quickly surrounded the U.S. troops, and the ensuing battle turned into a slaughter. More than 200 of Custer’s men were killed in a matter of minutes, and the few survivors were forced to flee.

Custer’s reckless bravado, combined with his dismissal of reconnaissance and strategic counsel, turned the encounter into a tragic example of hubris and poor planning, sealing his place in history as a cautionary tale.

These ten catastrophes demonstrate that even the most disciplined armies can crumble when leadership falters. Studying these blunders offers timeless lessons for anyone who thinks a plan can’t go wrong.

Throughout history, societies have found many different ways to execute criminals, including beheading, hanging, a firing squad, an electric chair, a gas chamber, and lethal injection. Unfortunately, for all forms of executions, there will be some cases that don’t result in a timely death—some executions might not work at all, or some might take multiple tries or a long time to work.

Here we reveal ten executions that didn’t go according to plan.

Related: Top 10 Dark Facts About The Death Penalty [DISTURBING]

10 Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, came from a royal lineage and was related to several kings. Unfortunately, she got caught up in the conflicts surrounding King Henry VIII’s break from the Roman Catholic Church and his attempts to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.

Pole’s son, Reginald, was made a cardinal in 1536 and started speaking out very vocally against Henry VIII. Shortly after, he fled to Rome and out of Henry’s reach. Unable to pursue Reginald Pole, Henry had Margaret Pole arrested in 1539 instead. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and her execution by beheading was scheduled for 1541 when she was 67 years old.

The executioner wasn’t very experienced, and the first blow of the ax missed her neck. Subsequent blows also did not land cleanly and instead hacked away at her neck, head, and back. It reportedly took 11 blows before Pole was finally beheaded, a rather gruesome way to go. In 1886, Pole was beatified by Pope Leo XIII and became Blessed Margaret Pole under the Roman Catholic Church.^[1]

9 Joseph Samuel

In 1801, Joseph Samuel was transported from England to the Australian penal colony for theft. Two years later, Samuel and a gang of thieves decided to rob a house. During the course of their robbery, a constable showed up and was killed. Samuel and several others in the gang were eventually caught. Samuel confessed to the robbery but not the killing. However, he was still sentenced to death by hanging.

On the date of his execution, Samuel continued to claim his innocence. Samuel was transported to Parramatta with another man, both scheduled to be hung. With a noose around his neck, the cart was moved from beneath the gallows. However, the noose around Samuel’s neck broke, and he fell to the ground. A second noose was brought, but this one unraveled. A third noose was used, but this one broke as well. The ropes were inspected, and no signs of tampering were found. The governor decided to release Samuel after this, citing divine intervention.

Samuel still didn’t learn his lesson. He was caught again a few years later, committing another crime, and sentenced to jail. Shortly afterward, he and eight other inmates escaped and stole a boat. They were never seen again and presumed to have drowned.^[2]

8 John “Babbacombe” Lee

John Lee was another “man they could not hang.” In 1884, Lee was convicted of murdering Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse, a resident of the small village of Babbacombe in England. Although the evidence against Lee was weak and circumstantial, he was sentenced to die by hanging at Exeter Prison in 1885.

Prior to his execution, the executioner at Exeter Prison tested the trap door underneath the gallows several times to make sure that it worked. Yet when they went to execute Lee, the trap door that Lee was supposed to drop through got stuck and would not open. They tried a second time and a third time but bit with the same result. The trap door just would not open. Lee’s execution was postponed and eventually commuted to a life sentence in prison. After serving 22 years of his life sentence, he was released from prison.^[3]

7 Ginggaew Lorsoungnern

In 1978, Ginggaew Lorsoungnern worked as a domestic helper for a family in Bangkok, Thailand. She kidnapped their 6-year-old son and gave him to a criminal gang, who held him for ransom. The ransom payment didn’t go as planned, and the gang ended up killing the boy. He was wounded with a knife and buried alive.

Lorsoungnern and the gang were caught and sentenced to die by firing squad. On the execution day, Lorsoungnern was tied to a cross, and the executioner shot ten bullets into her body. When the medical examiner couldn’t find a sign of life, she was taken to the morgue, where she started making sounds and tried to sit up. She was rolled over to help her bleed out faster while a second accomplice was brought for his execution. When the execution team discovered later that she was still alive, they tied her up again and shot her with 15 more bullets, which finally killed her.

A similar issue occurred with the third person to be executed in the plot. The first 13 bullets didn’t kill him, so they had to shoot him 10 more times.^[4]

6 Jimmy Lee Gray

In 1976, while he was on parole for killing his girlfriend, Jimmy Lee Gray kidnapped, raped, and murdered a three-year-old girl. He was sentenced to die in the gas chamber in Mississippi in 1983.

On his execution day, Lee was strapped to the chair in the gas chamber. Cyanide pellets were released and dropped into the sulfuric acid solution underneath the chair, which released the poisonous gas. Gray was said to have taken a deep breath, then started gagging and banging his head against the steel pole behind his chair. Although the doctors on hand have stated that his heart stopped beating after two minutes, witnesses say he was moaning and banging his head for the whole eight minutes that they were allowed to watch. They were quickly escorted out of the viewing area after eight minutes.

Shortly after Lee’s execution, Mississippi installed a headrest on the execution chair. A few months later, they switched to lethal injection for executions.^[5]

5 Frank Joseph Coppola

In 1978, Frank Joseph Coppola, a former policeman, was convicted of beating a woman to death while robbing her home in Newport News. He was sentenced to death in Virginia. Although maintaining his innocence, Coppola requested his execution by the electric chair during the summer of 1982. At that time, he dropped all further appeals to further spare his family more grief
.
In theory, during execution by electric chair, two jolts of electricity are sent through the condemned prisoner’s body—the first is supposed to cause unconsciousness and the second to cause death. In Coppola’s case, the first jolt did not make him unconscious; witnesses could see and hear him writhing in pain. During the second jolt, which lasted nearly a minute, witnesses could hear the sound of and smell flesh sizzling. Both Coppola’s head and leg caught on fire. There was so much smoke in the chamber that the witnesses say they could barely see Coppola at all.^[61]

4 Jesse Tafero

Jesse Tafero was convicted of fatally shooting two police officers during a routine traffic stop in Florida in 1976. He was sentenced to die in 1990 by electric chair even though he claimed he was innocent.

Before Tafero’s execution, the sponge used in the electric chair’s headpiece had to be replaced. Instead of replacing it with another natural sponge, which could handle the electric current without starting a fire, officials used a synthetic sponge. When the first jolt of electricity was delivered, the headpiece caught on fire. Witnesses said they saw flames nearly a foot high shooting up from Tafero’s head. It would take seven minutes and two more jolts before Tafero was declared dead. Inmates at the prison claimed to have smelled his burning flesh for days after the execution.

The saddest part of the Tafero story occurred after his death—it turns out he was innocent as he had maintained all along. An accomplice in the car with Tafero eventually confessed to the shooting.^[7]

3 Brian Steckel

In 1994, Brian Steckel talked his way into Sandra Lee Long’s apartment. He then raped and strangled her and set her bedroom on fire, killing her. Steckel was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection in 1997. While in prison, Steckel sent taunting letters to Long’s mother. The execution was carried out in 2005 in Delaware.

During his execution, officials noticed the anesthetic that Steckel had been injected with started leaking into the tissue surrounding the needle in his arm, but they didn’t fix the problem. He was then injected with a paralytic drug and a very painful heart-stopping drug. There was also a blockage in the line, which was eventually cleared, though again with no anesthesia. The process took so long that Steckel wondered out loud why it was taking such a long time. Prison officials have denied that there was any problem with the execution and claimed that they had simply wanted to give Steckel more time to say his goodbyes.^[8]

2 Joseph Wood

In 1989, Joseph Wood shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her father. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection in Arizona in 2014.

Wood was strapped to a gurney, and the execution began normally. Officials didn’t have any problems inserting the needle or with the injection itself. However, due to issues with obtaining certain drugs for use in executions, Arizona was using an experimental two-drug combination that it had never used before. The same drug combination had been used in a recent Ohio execution, where the condemned took nearly 30 minutes to die. Nonetheless, Arizona officials expected the execution to take mere minutes. Instead, it ended up taking much longer.

Witnesses to the execution say they started seeing Woods gasping for air and making noises a few minutes into the execution. It would eventually take nearly two hours, 15 injections, and several hundred gasps before Woods finally died, making it one of the longest executions in U.S. history.^[9]

1 Romell Broom

Romell Broom was convicted of abducting, raping, and killing a 14-year-old girl in 1984 and sentenced to die.

In September 2009, Broom was supposed to be executed via lethal injection. The execution team tried 18 times to insert the needles necessary to inject the lethal combination of drugs but failed. They tried to find useable veins in both Broom’s arms and legs and, at one point, struck his bone instead. Broom even tried to assist the team several times by turning over onto his side and moving his arms up and down while flexing his fingers. Finally, they were able to insert the needle, but his vein collapsed as soon as they tried to inject saline. After two hours, the state finally halted the execution attempt.

The governor issued a one-week reprieve, and Broom’s attorneys appealed. Broom appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court on the grounds that a second execution would put him in double jeopardy and constitute a cruel and unusual punishment. His appeal was denied by both the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. His execution was rescheduled for 2017 but delayed again until 2022. However, Broom died in prison in December 2020 before a second execution could take place.^[10]