hung/hanged for his crime?

[Cisco795]

What`s the right word to use for executions?

1.- The murderer was hung for his crime?
2.- The murderer was hanged for his crime?

Good morning everyone, thanks once more for your kind assistance.
God Bless you all.
Cisco.
_________________
Please, always correct me if I have made any kind of mistakes in my posts.

[Yankee]

Hi Cisco

Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say on that topic:

[Molly]

In my usage:

1.- The murderer was hung for his crime. = they hung him up, but we don't know if he died as a consequence. The intention may not have been to kill him.
2.- The murderer was hanged for his crime. = they hung him up by the neck and he died as a consequence. The intention was to kill him.

[Diverhank]

I agree with Yankee. You shouldn't use "hung" to describe a hanging. There's a good explanation here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/hanged.html