I suspect that these examples might be the sort of thing the Framers had in mind when they prohibited cruel and unusual punishment in the Bill of Rights. Four slaves, one Indian (Indian Sam), three black, in the household of William Hallett, Jr., murdered Hallett, his pregnant wife, and five children with an ax as they slept on January 11, 1708.
All of the defendants were executed by torture at Jamaica, Long Island. On February 2, 1708, Sam was gibbeted alive in a barbed cage.Bodies of especially notorious criminals would be left to rot in an iron cage where all could see them. Indian Sam was apparently not given the option of being killed first.
The female defendant (who was said to be the catalyst of the whole affair), was roasted alive over a slow fire for several hours with a vessel of cool water held near her mouth. When she finally expired her body was burnt to ashes.From Daniel Allen Hearn, Legal Executions in New York State: A Comprehensive Reference, 1639-1963 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1997), 5-6.
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