The Last Person to Be Publicly Executed in the U.S.

[GODREKR]

Rainey Bethea (c. 1909 – August 14, 1936) was the last person to be publicly executed in the United States. Bethea, who was a black man, confessed to the rape and murder of a 70-year-old white woman named Lischia Edwards, and after being convicted of her rape, he was publicly hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky. Mistakes in performing the hanging and the surrounding media circus contributed to the end of public executions in the United States.

During the early morning of June 7, 1936, Bethea gained access to the home of Lischia Edwards at 322 East Fifth Street by climbing onto the roof of an outbuilding next door. From there, he jumped onto the roof of the servant’s quarters of Emmett Wells' house, and then walked down a wooden walkway. He climbed over the kitchen roof to Edwards' bedroom window.

After removing a screen from her window, he entered the room, waking her. Bethea then choked Edwards and violently raped her. After she was unconscious, he searched for valuables and stole several of her rings. In the process, he removed his own black celluloid prison ring, but failed to retrieve it. He left the bedroom and hid the stolen jewels in a barn not far from the house.

Under Kentucky law, the grand jury could not convene until June 22, and the prosecutor decided to charge Bethea solely with rape. The reason was, under the statutes then in force, if a punishment of death was given for murder and robbery, it was to be carried out by electrocution at the state penitentiary in Eddyville; however, rape could be punished by public hanging in the county seat where the crime occurred. To avoid a potential legal dilemma as to whether Bethea would be hanged or electrocuted, the prosecutor elected to charge Bethea only with the crime of rape. Bethea was never charged with the remaining crimes of theft, robbery, burglary, or murder. After one hour and forty minutes, the grand jury returned an indictment, charging Bethea with rape.

Although the crime was infamous in the surrounding areas, it came to nationwide attention because of one fact — the sheriff of Daviess County was a woman. Florence Thompson had become sheriff on April 13, 1936 after her husband, Everett, who was elected sheriff in 1933, unexpectedly died of pneumonia on April 10, 1936. As sheriff of the county, it was her duty to hang Bethea.
Among the hundreds of letters that Sheriff Thompson received after it came to public attention she would perform the hanging was one from Arthur L. Hash, a former Louisville police officer, who offered his services free of charge to perform the execution. Thompson quickly decided to accept this offer. He only asked that she not make his name public.

On August 6, 1936, the Governor of Kentucky, Albert Chandler, signed Bethea's execution warrant and set the execution for sunrise on August 14. However, Sheriff Thompson requested the governor to issue a revised death warrant because the original warrant specified that the hanging would take place in the courthouse yard, where the county, at significant expense, had recently planted new shrubs and flowers. Chandler was out-of-state, so Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky Keen Johnson signed a second death warrant, moving the location of the hanging from the courthouse yard to an empty lot near the county garage.
Rainey Bethea's last meal consisted of fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers, cornbread, lemon pie, and ice cream, which he ate at 4:00 p.m. on August 13 in Louisville.

At about 1:00 a.m., Daviess County deputy sheriffs transported Bethea from Louisville to Owensboro. At the jail, Hanna visited Bethea and instructed him to stand on the X that would be marked on the trapdoor.

It was estimated that a crowd of 20,000 people gathered to watch the execution, with thousands coming from out of town. Hash arrived at the site intoxicated, wearing a white suit and a white Panama hat. At this time, no one but he and Thompson knew he would be pulling the trigger.

Bethea left the Daviess County Jail at 5:21 a.m. and walked with two deputies to the scaffold. Within two minutes, he was at the base of the scaffold. Removing his shoes, he put on a new pair of socks. He ascended the steps and stood on the large X as instructed. He made no final statement to the waiting crowd. After Bethea made his final confession to Father Lammers, of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, the black hood was placed over his head, and three large straps placed around his ankles, thighs, arms and chest.
Hanna placed the noose around Bethea's neck, adjusted it, and then signaled to Hash to pull the trigger. Instead, Hash, who was drunk, did nothing. Hanna shouted at Hash, "Do it!" and a deputy leaned onto the trigger which sprang the trap door. Throughout all of this, the crowd was hushed. Bethea fell eight feet, and his neck was instantly broken. About 14 minutes later, two doctors confirmed Bethea was dead. After the noose was removed, his body was taken to Andrew & Wheatley Funeral Home. He had wanted his body sent to his sister in South Carolina. Instead, he was buried in a pauper's grave at the Elmwood Cemetery in Owensboro.

Many newspapers, having spent considerable sums of money to cover the first execution of a man by a woman, were disappointed and took liberties with their reporting, describing it as a "Roman Holiday," falsely reporting that the crowd rushed the gallows to claim souvenirs, some even falsely reporting Thompson fainted at the base of the scaffold.

On January 17, 1938, William R. Attkisson of the Kentucky State Senate's 38th District (Louisville), introduced Senate Bill 69, calling for the repeal the requirement from Section 1137 that death sentences for the crime of rape be conducted by hanging in the county seat where the crime was committed. Representative Charles W. Anderson, Jr., one of the attorneys who assisted Bethea in his post conviction relief motions, promoted the bill in the Kentucky House of Representatives. After both houses approved the bill on March 12, 1938, Governor Chandler signed it into law, and it became effective on May 30, 1938. Chandler later expressed regret at having approved the repeal, claiming, "Our streets are no longer safe." The last person to be legally hanged in Kentucky was Harold Van Venison, a 33-year-old black singer who was privately hanged in Covington on June 3, 1938.

For more info read the Wiki entry here.

Bethea's last meal in the Jefferson County Jail in Louisville.


Bethea handcuffed between Daviess County Deputy Sheriffs Albert Reisz, left, and Lawrence Dishman, right, who traveled to Louisville the night before the execution to bring him to Owensboro for his public hanging.


Construction of the scaffold.


Construction of the scaffold draws a crowd.




Rainey Bethea mounts the scaffold with deputies at his side.


14th August 1936: A huge crowd of over 15.000 people gathers around a scaffold to witness the public hanging of 22-year old Rainey Bethea, Owensboro, Kentucky. Public outrage over the manner of execution made Bethea's death the last public hanging in the country.




Taken moments after Rainey Bethea was hanged.


Coverage of Rainey Bethea's hanging from the New York Daily News, August 1936.


Sheriff Florence Thompson.


Sheriff Florence Thompson assembles her deputies.

[imi]

female sheriff?

[GODREKR]

Originally Posted by imi

female sheriff?

Yup! And way back in 1936 no less.

[Eldeanio100]

If they are so popular then why stop public executions?

[vagabond]

I don't see how anything went wrong; although I've always thought public executions barbaric. Sheriff should have done it herself.

[Crazy Puppy]

She didn't want any blood on her hands by the look of it.

[cactusjock]

Fuck and I missed it....aint that some shit

[K53]

Powerful story.

[reinhard]

He waa a goo boy, he dindu nuffin! He waa tryin to get his life straight

[HellBillyDeluxe]

With that face...