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The Condemned Man Who Got A 2nd Chance in 1803 After 3 Failed Executions
A convicted criminal in Australia was sentenced to death for his role in a robbery and subsequent murderer, except the law discovered he just couldn’t be killed
It can be frustrating, but sometimes it seems that people who do bad things escape punishment no matter how obvious their transgressions might be. Occasionally, that can even be when a criminal is dead to rights and in custody. Such was the case of Joseph Samuel, a convicted 19th century thief and killer who was caught and sentenced to hang, but his execution strangely kept failing despite no obvious reason why.
Samuel, of German birth, was around the age of 14 when he was convicted of larceny (primarily clothing and bedding from the house in which he lived) in England in 1795. After serving a seven year stint in prison, he was sent to the new penal colony in Australia. There was little in the way of security there since the remote location meant prisoners weren’t going anywhere of consequence as it related to his home country.
Unsurprisingly, living amongst criminals did little to rehabilitate the young man. On the night of August 25, 1803, Samuel was part of a gang that snuck out of the encampment where…
