Surgeon Dr. Chovot discovered that opening the windpipe would prevent the fatal consequences of being hanged by the neck. The surgeon secretly made an incision in Gordon's windpipe. When Gordon was hanged he was observed to retain life after three thieves executed with him were dead. His body was cut down after hanging three quarters of an hour and carried to a house in Edgware road where Chovot was in attendance, he immediately opened a vein, which bled freely and soon after Gordon opened his mouth and groaned. However, he died.