Oh dear, a good old Death Penalty thread.
Ever heard the expression "Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb"? That was from the time when you could be hanged for stealing a sheep.
Try looking up the history of
The Bloody Code and realise that, despite all those crimes which could get you hanged, people *still* committed these crimes and, of course, innocent people were hanged due to miscarriages of justice, even those supposedly convicted "Beyond Resonable Doubt".
Then consider the Birmingham 6, Guildford 4 and similar cases where people were convicted because of bent Police, dodgy forensics etc...
So you can't stop people committing crimes, even by threatening them with death, and even when you convict someone, you might have the wrong person.
So, in answer to your question: No.