Throughout history, some people have miraculously survived executions that should have ended their lives, from failed hangings to malfunctioning electric chairs. Here are 10 extraordinary stories of people who survived death sentences, although some of these historical accounts remain disputed or difficult to verify.
1 Christa Pike
Christa Pike was convicted of the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a fellow Job Corps trainee in Tennessee. She was sentenced to death in 1996. On September 30, 2026, Tennessee attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection, but the procedure failed after two doses of pentobarbital were administered. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later regained consciousness. Her survival has raised serious legal and ethical questions about whether the state can attempt to execute her again. Her long-term medical condition and legal status remain uncertain.
2 John Henry George Lee
John Henry George “Babbacombe” Lee was convicted of murdering his employer, Emma Keyse, in Devon, England, in 1884. In 1885, he was sentenced to death by hanging. On the day of his execution, the trapdoor failed to work properly despite repeated attempts. After three unsuccessful attempts to hang him, the authorities postponed the execution. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Lee became famous as the man who could not be hanged.
3 William Duell
William Duell was a young man convicted of rape and murder in England in 1740. He was hanged alongside four other condemned prisoners. At the time, the bodies of executed criminals could be sent to surgeons for anatomical dissection. When Duell was taken to a surgeon’s premises, signs of life were reportedly discovered. He was revived and later transported to the American colonies instead of being executed again. His case became one of the best-known historical accounts of a person surviving a hanging.
4 Vinselao Miguel
According to some accounts, Vinselao Miguel was arrested during the Mexican Revolution and sentenced to death by firing squad. The story claims that he survived nine shots, escaped, and went on to live a long life. However, reliable historical documentation confirming his identity and the details of this alleged execution is difficult to establish. This story should therefore be treated as unverified rather than as a confirmed historical fact.
5 John Smith
Some accounts tell of a man named John Smith who was sentenced to death by hanging after a series of burglaries and survived the execution. According to the story, he recovered and lived for some time afterward. However, the identity of this individual and the circumstances of the alleged execution are not sufficiently documented to verify the account. Without a reliable historical source, this story should be regarded with caution.
6 Anne Greene
Anne Greene was an English domestic servant who became pregnant by her employer’s grandson in the seventeenth century. After giving birth to a premature infant who died, she was accused of concealing the birth and murdering the child. In 1650, she was hanged at Oxford Castle. When her body was later examined, people discovered signs of life. She was revived and eventually pardoned. Her remarkable survival became a well-known case in the history of English criminal justice.
7 Joseph Samuel
Joseph Samuel was a convict in colonial New South Wales, Australia, who was sentenced to death for his involvement in a robbery and murder. In 1803, he was taken to the gallows. During three attempts to hang him, the rope reportedly broke twice and slipped during another attempt. The repeated failures prompted public calls to spare his life. Governor Philip Gidley King eventually commuted Samuel’s sentence to life imprisonment. The extraordinary incident became one of Australia’s most famous historical execution stories.
8 Maggie Dickson
Maggie Dickson was a Scottish woman who was sentenced to death in 1724 after concealing a pregnancy and the death of her infant. She was hanged in Edinburgh. According to the traditional account, her body was being transported for burial when people heard noises coming from her coffin. When it was opened, she was found alive. Dickson recovered and lived for many more years. Her story became part of Scottish folklore, and she is often remembered as “Half-Hangit Maggie.”
9 John Babbacombe Lee’s fellow execution survivor, William Duell
Historical accounts of failed executions include several cases in which people were presumed dead but subsequently revived. William Duell’s case, described above, is one of the best-known examples from eighteenth-century England. Rather than treating every retelling as a separate verified case, it is important to distinguish documented incidents from stories that have been repeated without reliable supporting evidence.
10 Willie Francis
Willie Francis was a teenager from Louisiana who was convicted of murdering pharmacist Andrew Thomas in 1944. In May 1946, at the age of 17, Francis was strapped into the electric chair, but a malfunction prevented the execution from being completed. Witnesses reported that he cried out in pain as electricity was applied. Francis survived the failed attempt, and his lawyers challenged the state’s decision to execute him again. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled against him. He was executed by electrocution on May 9, 1947.
