I know, I know
But surely, it's the judge who kills the guy - he is the one to deal with the guilt because he knows he is not firing blanks when he delivers the sentence.
In Soviet Union when a death row inmate was informed that his final appeal failed he would be escorted down some corridors and will get a bullet in the back of his head at some random spot without warning. That's what I call a "humane killing"!
That 5-people affair is IMHO a misplaced sensitivity which achieves nothing. Yes, it originates from time when during wars firing squads were formed from regular soldiers and they were ordered to shoot, perhaps one of their own comrades who was hastily convicted of cowardice or being a spy etc. so the guilt issue was there. But civilian executions?
For centuries it used to be just one guy doing the job with his faced masked.
P.S. I am actually against death penalty as a principle, but if you decide to do it - do it properly, that's what I think.