One hundred years ago, a condemned New Zealander was at the centre of a passionate debate on the death penalty in the American state of Oregon. Matthew Gray reports on a saga that is still playing out today.
A century has passed since an American hangman placed a noose around New Zealander Thomas Noble Joseph Faulder's neck and sent him plummeting to a quick and violent death.
But history is repeating itself in Oregon - the scene of Noble Faulder's execution - where 100 years later, state governor John Kitzhaber is urging legislators to abolish capital punishment.
The same debate was raging through 1912 while Faulder and three others on death row languished in their jail cells waiting to see whether public opinion would swing in their direction.
Leading the charge then was Governor Oswald West who put the hangings on hold pending a public referendum scheduled to coincide with an election in November.
Ironically the same men who he hoped to save had no interest in a reprieve.
The best outcome they could hope for with a repeal of the death penalty was life in prison.
And all preferred a swift death to life in a cage.
They got their wish after voters returned West to office but kicked his humanitarian stance to touch.
The four were hanged at the Salem Penitentiary on December 13 - the day that fast became known as "Bloody Friday" by West's supporters.
Source: The Timaru Herald, January 1, 2012
