For every execution, there is an executioner. Actually there is a whole team of people required to follow the multitude of procedures associated with carrying out a death sentence. These women and men may have had nothing to do with the crime, but they still suffer consequences.
Former prison warden, Dr. Allen Ault, recently opened up for the first time on tape about his time as a prison warden. “Everybody [who took part in executions] suffered. I still get flashbacks,” Dr. Ault shares.
Executions can spark a ripple effect of trauma, which impacts the corrections officers who implement the punishment, journalists who watch them, and even capital jurors. More and more corrections officers have come forward to share stories like Dr. Ault’s. Some suffer from alcoholism or even nervous breakdowns. One warden from Florida has said that the people he executed come to him at night haunting him while he sleeps. Their stories offer a glimpse of how the death penalty’s reach extends far beyond solely the victim and the executed.
Watch Dr. Ault’s video interview.
