Executioner Prepares To Give Coup De Grace - A Chinese executioner(right), who has Just fired automatic pistol slugs into the heads of five prisoners sentenced to death in Shanghai, notes that one of the men was not killed immediately. He turns to deliver the coup de grace in the form of another bullet. The executions took place in Shanghai police station courtyard. The five doomed men were lined up, made t6 kneel down and then shot to death in an operation which was completed in 30 seconds. Placards tied to their bound hands tell of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. May 18, 1949. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).