The state of Nebraska has been executing people for 135 years, and that history will be examined in a new public television special.

The NET News documentary on Nebraska’s death penalty will premiere Friday evening at 7 p.m.

The first legal execution in Nebraska happened in 1878 in Kearney County. Hundreds of spectators watched as convicted murderer Samuel Richards was hanged in Minden.

The documentary will also examine the debate over the death penalty over the years and the method of execution.

Over the years Nebraska changed its execution method to electrocution and then lethal injection became the method a few years ago.