Karel Richter - World War II Spy Violently Fought his Hangman Pierrepoint on the Gallows



Karel Richter - World War II Spy Violently Fought his Hangman Pierrepoint on the Gallows

On the 10th of December 1941, German spy, Karel Richard Richter was hanged at Wandsworth Prison, London by Albert Pierrepoint. This was the man who Pierrepoint describes in his biography of giving him serious trouble. 

Almost all accounts of hangings describe the prisoner as going to the gallows peacefully if not bravely. This was not the case with Herr Richter. With great difficulty Albert got the wrist straps on but Richter who was a powerfully built man and fought the warders every inch of the way.

He managed to get his hands free and had split the strap from one hole to the next, which must have taken great force. Finally the warders got Richter onto the trap door but just as Albert was pushing the lever, Richter jumped loosening the noose which slipped from under his chin to a point under his upper lip. 

Richter’s neck must have snapped with the noose held tight around his face as opposed to around his neck. Despite the problems caused by Richter there was fracture of the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae. I have no idea how I would feel or act in those circumstances.

Richter had been caught two days after he parachuted into England near the village of London Colney, in Hertfordshire on the night of the 13th of May 1941. He had hid in a wood and emerged when he thought it was safe at around 10 a.m. A passing lorry driver asked him for directions which he was unable to give. 

The driver noticed his accent and a few moments later saw a policeman, PC Alec Scott, and reported his suspicions. The officer detained Richter and found he had rather a lot of money in UK pounds and US dollars, maps and a compass on him. A search of nearby woods located the parachute he had used, together with a loaded pistol and a wireless transmitter.

He was tried “in camera” for espionage under Section 1 of the Treachery Act of 1940 at the Old Bailey before Mr. Justice Tucker between the 21st and 24th of October 1941. His appeal was dismissed on the 24th of November. 

It is interesting to note that this case got a great deal of press coverage - perhaps part of the wartime propaganda machine. At this time the execution of “regular” murderers often only rated a single paragraph. One of the photos shows Richter under escort locating his stashed equipment

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CLIFFORD HOYT: THE MAN WHO HAS SEEN HELL

Image
CLIFFORD HOYT: THE MAN WHO HAS SEEN HELL I immediately make a premise. Many Paranormal groups report news similar to the one I am about to publish, about a certain Harry Hoyt, aged 31, who died in 1999 a few days after having an accident from which he woke up saying he saw Hell (and they put a scene from the movie “Hellraiser 2” as a photo).  Well, what I found in my research is very different, although the common thread is the same. So it's up to you to decide which version is the right one (assuming one of the two is true). Let's go to the facts. The protagonist is Clifford Hoyt (not Harry: Harry Hyot is an American filmmaker to me), 31 who suffered serious injuries in a car accident due to icy asphalt in 1999, on his way home after a long day at work in Maryland. . He remained in a coma for a few hours and when he regained consciousness, he revealed to the nurse that he was looking after him that he had been sucked into a vortex that led him straight to Hell. He told of the
Read more

RAPE AND OTHER ATROCITIES COMMITTED DURING WAR.

Image
WARNING! PHOTO BELOW ARE NOT MET FOR THE WEAK HEART. Please note: The following subject matter is of immense importance, but could be difficult to read. There is a frank discussion of rape and other atrocities committed during war. After entering a large museum in one of the world’s most ancient cities and the former capital of the Chinese empire, Nanking—or Nanjing as it’s known today—my 18-year-old daughter Sophia and I walked over a glass walkway that allowed us to look down 10 feet of earth and observe an ancient footpath. Lights highlighted the ground under the glass while the room we were in was dark.  To our right hung numerous photographs on a black wall showing Japanese soldiers slaughtering Chinese citizens in December 1937 revealed by individual lights, the types one sees on art museum paintings. Dead babies, severed heads, piles of bodies on Yangtze River banks, and helpless prisoners of war were all documented there by photographs taken by the perpetrators themselves, Impe
Read more

During the 1980s, Carmelo “Carlo” Profeta was part of Roy DeMeo's famous crew, known as "The Murder Machine".

Image
During the 1980s, Carmelo “Carlo” Profeta was part of Roy DeMeo's famous crew, known as "The Murder Machine".  This crew of the Gambino family sold drugs in large quantities, stole luxury cars to resell them abroad, and its members killed 75 known people (the true number of people killed by this crew is actually estimated at nearly 200 people) around New York.  All these crimes lead to a trial in 1989. Profeta was sentenced to eight years in prison. After his release from prison, Profeta joined the Lucchese family and he and Private John "Johnny V" Vanasco (image) became good friends. They have since gone through thick and thin together. At the beginning of 2002, Profeta and Vanasco both extorted the manager of a fuel oil company, threatening him with bodily harm and even more if he did not approve their request. In September 2002, they were both convicted of extortion by a federal jury in Manhattan. In December 2003, a Brooklyn court again found the two men gui
Read more

~ Audie Murphy (20th June 1925 – 28th May 1971) was an American soldier, actor, songwriter, and rancher. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II.

Image
~ Audie Murphy (20th June 1925 – 28th May 1971) was an American soldier, actor, songwriter, and rancher. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II.  He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, and then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition. Murphy was born into a large family of sharecroppers in Hunt County, Texas. His father abandoned them, and his mother died when he was a teenager. Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family; his skill with a hunting rifle helped feed his family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify docume
Read more

3 year old chimney sweep in 1933

Image
3 year old chimney sweep in 1933  In the late 1600s in England in response to the Great Fire of London, which gutted the city, building codes changed, requiring chimneys to be much narrower than previously. Due to the new design, keeping the chimneys free of obstruction became more of a challenge and a priority.  Shockingly, instead of someone inventing a tool for this purpose, children were employed as human chimney sweeps. For over 200 years, this practice went on, in spite of the deplorable conditions the children lived in, the horrible health effects they suffered, and the many injuries and fatalities resulting from related work hazards. Master Sweeps took in homeless young boys or bought young children from orphanages or from destitute parents; and the children were supposedly chimney sweep apprentices. Instead, they were nothing less than indentured servants, harshly treated and forced to work from dawn until dusk every day of the year but one. The small boys used as chimney swee
Read more

🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Private First Class Chuck Tatum: 5th Marine Division: Veteran of Iwo Jima

Image
🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Private First Class Chuck Tatum: 5th Marine Division: Veteran of Iwo Jima Charles William Tatum, of Stockton California, enlisted with the US Marine Corps while attending Stockton High School. In 1944, at the age of 17 years old Chuck was sent to train with the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California. In 1944, the US Marines were building the 5th Marine Division--also known as "The Spearhead"--in preparation for the invasion of the Island of Iwo Jima. Tatum was sent for further training with the 5th Division at Camp Tarawa near Hilo, Hawaii. Tatum was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. "On 19 February 1945 (D-Day), his battalion (Landing Team 1-27) disembarked and landed on "Red Beach 2", on the southeast side of Iwo Jima, off of landing boats from the attack transport, USS Hansford (APA-106 ), with orders to, "land, seize, and occupy Iwo Jima" ("Island X")."  &
Read more

TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM CHARETTE

Image
Five enlisted sailors, all Hospital Corpsmen, earned the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. Only one, William Charette, survived to receive his award . . . Orphaned at the age of four, William R. Charette, a native of Ludington, Michigan, was destined for a life of service and sacrifice.  Raised by an uncle, who loved the boy like his own, Charette was only ten years old when his relative left to fight in WWII. With his uncle gone for three years, the young William and his sister lived and worked on a dairy farm. Charette would never forget the impact the war had on him, his family, and so many others.   On January 11, 1951, with the Korean War raging and Charette wanting to do his part, the 19-year-old high school graduate enlisted in the Navy and became a Hospital Corpsman. He was soon on the front lines of the war.  On the night of March 26-27, 1953, just two days before his 21st birthday, Charette went above and beyond the call of duty. With his unit, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7
Read more

LEDA AND ZEUS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Image
LEDA AND ZEUS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY The Story of Leda and the Swan The stories of Greek mythology have entertained people for thousands of years, and even today, the surviving stories have ensured that the names of many figures are still well known. Zeus is normally taken to be the supreme god of the Greek pantheon, but the surviving tales tend not to focus on the rule of Zeus, but rather, they focus on the love life of the god. Zeus was married to  Hera , his third immortal wife, but despite being married, Zeus would have many relationships with mortals and immortals, bringing forth a plethora of offspring. One such relationship was that of Zeus and Leda, a relationship that also produced children for the supreme god. The Story of Zeus and Leda In Ancient Sources The story of Leda and Zeus is one talked about in virtually all complete surviving texts from antiquity, with the likes of Homer ( Iliad  and  the Odyssey ), Apollodorus ( Bibliotheca ), Pausanias ( Description of Greece )
Read more

History: Eastern Band helped thwart German intelligence during height of WWI

Image
History: Eastern Band helped thwart German intelligence during height of WWI By Jim Buchanan Twenty years ago, a film came out that made a brief splash before quickly being lost in a Hollywood summer dominated by franchise films (installments of the Spiderman, Harry Potter, Men in Black, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings series all landed that year). The film was called “Windtalkers,” and it was based on the real-life saga of Navajo code talkers in World War II’s Pacific Theatre. Navajo language was the basis of an unbreakable code Japanese intelligence could never crack, making communications between native Navajo speakers regarding military movements and dispositions safe and invaluable to the American war effort. The movie was something of a flop not because of the story but because of how it was told. At the time critic Roger Ebert said “filmmakers have buried it beneath battlefield cliches, while centering the story on a white character played by Nicolas Cage,” despite being based o
Read more