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Van Roosevelt Solomon   Photo-documentation:   Van Roosevelt Solomon The tapes, recorded in Georgia's electrocution chambers and played for the first time on national radio last night, reveal an eerie matter-of-factness as inmates are killed. Prison guards were caught laughing and joking after a successful electrocution. Condemned men can be heard offering their embittered final statements. The dispassionate way in which the executions are carried out comes through clearly in the prison guards' commentary as the convicts suffer spasms. The tapes were made by prison authorities as a protection against legal action if an electrocution went wrong. They were obtained by Mike Mears, the director of Georgia's public defender's office, and used to argue against the state's use of the electric chair. Mr Mears hopes that they will force Americans who support the death penalty in principle to confront what it means in practice. He said: "I hope they will bring the reality of executions into focus for the general public. We've got to find some way of impacting the public's emotions." They have added fuel to the death penalty debate just two weeks before the execution of McVeigh, the worst mass murderer in US history. Recorded between 1983 and 1998, the 10 hours of tapes feature prison officials narrating events in the execution chamber. Van Roosevelt Solomon, one of the condemned men in the tapes, says as his final statement: "I'd like to give my blessing to all the people that seeked to save my life. I'd like to curse everyone that seeked to take my life." After hearing the electricity surge through the condemned man's body, Ralph Kemp, the prison warden, tells the commissioner for corrections, Dave Low, that it sounds like "a bolt of lightning". Low says: "It ran too smooth, Ralph, but don't screw it up next time." Kemp laughs and says: "OK." The Attorney-General of Georgia, Mike Bowers, then comes on the line. "Ralph, I second what Dave said. Very smooth job." Mr Kemp says: "We appreciate it. Just give us another one." LISTEN TO THE RECORDING (Real Media 4:00 minutes)     GO BACK