row. He escaped the prison for the third time to see his daughter who was three days old. Death Siripala made his third prison escape successfully three days after his daughter's birth in 1975. His trial was taken up in absentia for murdering a man in March 1974. After the trial, the court prescribed the death penalty. He escaped from prison, but soon afterward prison authorities captured him in a hideout, but he had already visited his newly born daughter. Following his conviction, prison authorities placed him on death row. Siripala was hanged on August 5, 1975, at Bogambara Prison in Kandy. Controversy over Siripala's death On the night before the execution (August 4, 1975), the prison authorities gave Siripala a strong dose of sedatives (Largactil) to prevent another escape attempt and keep him calm. The sedatives caused Siripala to collapse into a state of unconsciousness and lifelessness from which he did not recover. Prison authorities were unable to formally prepare him for the execution. Hence, they carried him to the gallows on a stretcher and laid him on the trapdoor. The noose was then placed around his neck and the executioner (hangman) opened the trapdoor. Due to the shortfall (2 ft. 2 in.) caused by his slumped position, Siripala died from slow strangulation. If he had been standing, he would have died instantly from a cervical fracture. During that prison process of Siripala's execution, Ranmanika who was waiting outside at the prison doors ran along the streets in Kandy city yelling "my husband was killed and hanged". Aftermath News of Siripala's controversial death led to public outrage and controversy. The then president appointed a committee to look into the controversies created by Siripala's death on gallows. His death affected the debate on capital punishment in Sri Lanka. Siripala's skull The Medical Faculty of Ruhuna University keeps Siripala's head as an exhibit. As family members of Siripala mentioned (as of 2021), medical authorities keep his head without the consent of the family members of Siripala. It is believed that his head was removed from his body during the exhumation for the autopsy and judicial-medical purposes following the Presidential Committee (in 1976?). In popular culture Siripala and Ranmenika (සිරිපාල සහ රන්මැනිකා) Was a popular Sinhala movie produced in 1978, following the story of Siripala and Ranmanica. It depicts the life events Siripala encounters in his short life. Living with the Killer