Fact Check

Was Death Row Prisoner Igor Hamilton Set Free After Thrice Surviving Lethal Injection?

A routine review of content labeled satire.

Published Nov. 13, 2019

Syringe and toxic substance.More on this lightbox: (Getty Images/Stock photo)
Syringe and toxic substance.More on this lightbox: (Image Via Getty Images/Stock photo)
Claim:
Death row prisoner Igor Hamilton was set free after surviving lethal injection three times.

On July 12, 2019, Huzlers.com published an article positing that a death row inmate in Texas named Igor Hamilton was set free after he survived lethal injection three times:

Death Row Inmate Survives Lethal Injection 3 Times Set Free; Imprisoned For Killing Cats

A Texas death-row inmate who survived three lethal injections will be set free. His attorney, Edward Morningwood, said his client had done his time including the lethal injection required by the state. The lethal injection was supposed to be a quick death, but Igor survived.

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

A combination of satirical and fictional content created in such a complex way that it could not conveniently be presented or represented anywhere else but Huzlers!

While this article was originally published in July 2019, it was spread further in November 2019 after genuine news outlets reported that a man serving a life sentence appealed his case and argued that he should be let out of prison because he had already "briefly died." It appears that some readers may have been confused by this news.

To muddy the waters even further, the website zimeye.net aggregated Huzlers satirical content in November 2019 and presented this piece of fiction as if it were a genuine news item. Zimeye.net doesn't appear to carry a readily available disclaimer labeling its content as fiction.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.

Sources

Huzlers.   "Death Row Inmate Survives Lethal Injection 3 Times Set Free; Imprisoned For Killing Cats."     12 July 2019.

Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas.   "Benjamin Schreiber: Jailed Murderer Says He Should Be Released Because He 'Died Already'."     Independent.   9 November 2019.