Execution of Ivon Ray Stanley

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Execution of Ivon Ray Stanley

The broadcast began with an excerpt from one of the tapes, the 1984 electrocution of Ivon Ray Stanley.

[Photo: Ivon Ray Stanley]

Ivon Ray Stanley was convicted of the 1976 murder of Clifford Floyd, an insurance agent, who was robbed, beaten, and shot. Stanley, who had an IQ of 62, was executed on July 12, 1984. He was 28 years old.

Below is a RealAudio file of the execution. Note that it is a broadcast version of the tape -- extended silences, repetitive phrases, and unintelligible comments have been removed. Please see the complete audio archive for complete audio of this and all other execution available.

Execution of Ivon Ray Stanley (RealAudio file, 11:17 min.)

This is a recording of the telephone conversation between department of corrections officials in Atlanta and the prison personnel in a room adjacent to the death chamber. The main speaker is Willis Marable, an assistant to the warden at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, where all of the state's executions are carried out. From the small room adjacent to the death chamber, Marable watched the execution through a one-way mirror and described in detail exactly what transpired to officials in Atlanta. The "clunking" sounds on the tape are prison doors slamming elsewhere in the institution.

To begin the electrocution, three volunteer corrections officers, standing beside Marable, each pressed a button simultaneously. Only one button actually triggered the electricity, so the employees never knew who actually sent the fatal charge. Electricity then passed through Stanley's body for a total of two minutes in the following stages:

Stage 1: 1,700 volts (5 sec.)
Stage 2: 1,000 volts (7 sec.)
Stage 3: 208 volts (108 sec.)

This was followed by a five-minute "cool-down" period before two physicians entered the death chamber to determine death.

Next Page | Recording of a "botched" execution ť

This piece is available in the following audio formats [52:19 min]:

28.8 kbps Real Audio

56 kbps Real Audio

ISDN Real Audio

Intro

Ivon Ray Stanley

"Botched" Execution

Last Words

Complete Audio

Witness to an Execution, a documentary about the Texas death house

Death Row Diaries, a feature about the last two inmates executed in the U.S. before the year 2000

Georgia Supreme Court's ruling that found the use of the electric chair unconstitutional [PDF file, 314K]

The Last Public Execution, a book about the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea

History of "botched" executions from the Death Penalty Information Center

Breaking death penalty news from Court TV

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