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

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