Anders Nielsen or Anders Sjællander as he was also known as, was the last to be publicly executed in Denmark. He was sentenced to death in the summer of 1881 for having lured merchant Per Jönsson into a field near Nakskov, crushed his head and then robbed him. Anders refused until he was confronted with the corpse that was dug up again.
The execution was a scandal. In view of 3,000 people Anders arrived to a scaffold that had not even been setup yet. When the scaffold was erected sentence was read and a prayer read by the priest. The executioner in evening dress, carrying the chopping block raised the axe, but the nervousness or drunkenness made him hit Anders in the neck. It took three blows before the head finally parted from the body. The executioner Theodor Sejstrup claimed his foot slipped in the snow.
The inquisitive audience then broke through the primitive barrier, but a cop forged ahead while he bellowed, "Where the hell is the coffin?"
The executioner Theodor Sejstrup who also executed Jens Nielsen Horsens State Prison
The executioner Theodor Sejstrup 1903
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Anders Nielsen or Sjællander as he was also known as
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