Why wouldn't they just stop Del's execution?
There was clearly enough time.
shareDel would have been horribly burned by the time they realized something was wrong and shut the power off. Most likely, he would have died anywhere from several hours to several days later, all while in excruciating pain.
Someone in another thread suggested a guard should have pulled his revolver and put one in his brain to end his suffering, but others suggested said guard still might be charged with murder, and gave a good legal reason why that might happen. Interesting debate. I wonder if this actually happened if a prosecutor would prosecute the case.
Great points. They had two choices - stop the execution and prolong the most horrible suffering imaginable (being cooked alive) or continue and reduce it to the shortest time possible.
This botched execution is not just a work of fiction. I remember a death row inmate being set on fire in some death penalty state (forget which one) and the sheriff coming out and saying "You better not kill someone in our state. Our electric chair ain't working too well."