Editing Billy Bailey (section)

== Preparations ==
Although the method of execution in Delaware had been changed to [[lethal injection]] in 1986, he had the legal option of choosing to be hanged instead.<ref name="women">{{cite book |first=Kathleen A. |last=O'Shea |title=Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1999 |ISBN=0-275-95952-X}}</ref> Bailey refused to accept lethal injection, telling a visitor, "I'm not going to let them put me to sleep."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-heart-to-grieve-for-all-americas-billy-baileys-1325507.html |first=John |last=Carlin |title=The heart to grieve for all America's Billy Baileys |date=1996-01-24 |accessdate=2016-02-11 |newspaper=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><blockquote>"Go ahead and hang me. You ain't putting me down like a dog. I was sentenced to hang so hang me."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Craig |date=2021-06-20 |title=Delaware State Police Museum exhibit details 1979 murder case |url=https://baytobaynews.com/stories/delaware-state-police-museum-exhibit-details-1979-murder-case,51084 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Bay to Bay News |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>A few days before his scheduled execution, the Delaware Board of Pardons refused to recommend clemency for Bailey.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1996-01-20 |title=Billy Bailey death sentence commutation denied. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-journal-billy-bailey-death-sent/78804346/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |work=The News Journal |pages=1}}</ref> His attorney and sisters had pleaded for clemency, citing his upbringing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1996-01-20 |title=Billy Bailey death sentence commutation denied part 2. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-journal-billy-bailey-death-sent/78804440/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |work=The News Journal |pages=7}}</ref>

As Delaware had not carried out a hanging in 50 years, state officials sought advice from corrections officials at [[Washington State Penitentiary]] in [[Walla Walla, Washington]], where hangings had recently been performed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Billy Bailey |url=http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/bailey.html |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=www.capitalpunishmentuk.org}}</ref> The wooden [[gallows]] were built on the grounds of the Delaware Correctional Center at [[Smyrna, Delaware|Smyrna]] in 1986. The structure required renovation and strengthening before Bailey could be executed on it. The platform housing the trap door was {{convert|15|ft|m}} from the ground and accessed by 23 steps.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Howard |first=David |date=2023-01-12 |title=The Chilling Story of Delaware's Last Gallows |url=https://delawaretoday.com/life-style/delaware-last-gallows/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Delaware Today |language=en-US}}</ref>

Delaware used an execution protocol written by [[Fred A. Leuchter|Fred Leuchter]]. Leuchter's protocol specified the use of {{convert|30|ft|m}} of {{convert|0.75|in|mm|adj=on}} diameter Manila hemp rope, boiled to take out stretch and any tendency to coil. The length of the rope sliding inside the knot was lubricated with melted paraffin wax, to allow it to slide freely. A black hood was specified by the protocol, as was a sandbag to test the trap door and a "collapse board" to which a prisoner could be strapped if necessary.<ref name=":1" /> Prison officials initially contracted Leuchter to build the gallows itself, but cut ties with him after he testified in the defense of Holocaust denier [[Ernst Zündel]]. Leuchter's protocol was still used after it was deemed reliable, albeit prison officials also cross-referenced it with a [[U.S. Army]] manual on executions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Murderer hanged in Delaware - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/01/25/Murderer-hanged-in-Delaware/4428822546000/ |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>

The day before, Bailey was weighed at {{convert|220|lb|abbr=on}}, and the drop was determined to be around {{convert|5|ft|m}}.<ref name=":1" />

Bailey was moved from his prison cell to the execution trailer used for lethal injection prior to the execution. There, he spent his last 24 hours, sleeping, eating, watching television, talking with staff, and meeting with his fifty-three-year-old sister, Betty Odom, the prison chaplain, and his attorney. For his [[last meal]], he requested a well-done steak, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, buttered rolls, peas, and vanilla ice cream. Asked if he had any last words, Bailey replied, "No, sir."<ref name=":1" />

His final appeals having failed, Bailey was executed on January 25, 1996. The gallows in Delaware were dismantled in July 2003, because after that year, none of its death row inmates remained eligible to choose hanging over lethal injection.<ref name=":1" /> William H. Flamer, who was convicted of murdering his uncle and aunt in 1979, chose lethal injection and was executed on January 30, 1996. After James W. Riley, who had killed a man during a liquor robbery in 1982, refused to choose, the default method chosen for him was hanging. However, on May 19, 2003, Riley was resentenced to life in prison without parole after winning a retrial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Delaware gallows the victim at final public spectacle |url=https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/jul/09/delaware_gallows_the/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=LJWorld.com |language=en-US}}</ref>