Lew Powell's Frostbitten Feet

[BettyO]

According to Dr. Gillette, Lew didn't eat or drink a thing on the morning of the hanging - for obvious reasons. Lew had been a soldier, he had seen men die on the battle and he knew what happened. He didn't want to disgrace himself further by losing his bowels, etc. Enough said.

Yes, in the gallows photos you can see that Lew seems like a tall, very skinny kid! I would bet that this boy lost at least 20-25 lbs in prison making his weight thus about 150 - 155 lbs. Very thin for a young man of his frame - he was apparently large boned. I think that this in effect may have been the reason he strangled instead of having his neck broken humanely. Apparently Rath did not take into consideration the weight of his victims and the drops assigned to each.....