This reference work contains details of all the crimes resulting in executions in the fifteen western American territories. For each territory, entries are arranged chronologically and entered under the name of the condemned. Each entry provides the date, location, background and actions of the crime; details of the trial and execution of sentence; and references to the crime and execution in contemporary newspapers.
Since colonial days, administration of the death penalty--whether by hanging, firing squad, electrocution, or lethal injection--has persisted as one of the most controversial ethical and practical issues of American jurisprudence. This volume chronicles every legal execution in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, including Indian Territory, through December 2010. Each case history includes a detailed description of the crime, the pursuit and capture of the suspect, his or her pre-trial experiences, the trial, sentencing, incarceration, execution, and its aftermath.
During the two decades following entry into World War II, nearly 30 million men and women served in or worked for the United States military. Tens of thousands faced a general court-martial under the Articles of War, which prescribed either life in prison or death for crimes of murder, rape or desertion. Only 160 men were sentenced to death and executed--159 for murder or rape (or a combination of the two), and one for desertion. The manner of death was by firing squad or by hanging. These dishonored servicemen were buried in various locations around the world. Later, nearly all were moved to grave sites in military cemeteries, segregated from those who died honorably. This book tells the stories of the men, their crimes and their executions.
In The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, noted death penalty scholar Michael Radelet chronicles the details of each capital punishment trial and execution that has taken place in Colorado since 1859. The book describes the debates and struggles that Coloradans have had over the use of the death penalty, placing the cases of the 103 men whose sentences were carried out and 100 more who were never executed into the context of a gradual worldwide trend away from this form of punishment. For more than 150 years, Coloradans have been deeply divided about the death penalty, with regular questions about whether it should be expanded, restricted, or eliminated. It has twice been abolished, but both times state lawmakers reinstated the contentious punitive measure. Prison administrators have contributed to this debate, with some refusing to participate in executions and some lending their voices to abolition efforts. Colorado has also had a rich history of experimenting with execution methods, first hanging prisoners in public and then, starting in 1890, using the "twitch-up gallows" for four decades. In 1933, Colorado began using a gas chamber and eventually moved to lethal injection in the 1990s. Based on meticulous archival research in official state archives, library records, and multimedia sources, The History of the Death Penalty in Colorado, will inform the conversation on both sides of the issue anywhere the future of the death penalty is under debate.
Several encyclopedias overview the contemporary system of criminal justice in America, but full understanding of current social problems and contemporary strategies to deal with them can come only with clear appreciation of the historical underpinnings of those problems. Thus, this five-volume work surveys the history and philosophy of crime, punishment, and criminal justice institutions in America from colonial times to the present. It covers the whole of the criminal justice system, from crimes, law enforcement and policing, to courts, corrections and human services. Among other things, this encyclopedia: explicates philosophical foundations underpinning our system of justice; charts changing patterns in criminal activity and subsequent effects on legal responses; identifies major periods in the development of our system of criminal justice; and explores in the first four volumes - supplemented by a fifth volume containing annotated primary documents - evolving debates and conflicts on how best to address issues of crime and punishment. Its signed entries in the first four volumes--supplemented by a fifth volume containing annotated primary documents--provide the historical context for students to better understand contemporary criminological debates and the contemporary shape of the U.S. system of law and justice.
California was the mining center of the West for half a century. Wherever precious minerals were found, road agents appeared to "mine the roads" of treasure being shipped out and payrolls being shipped in. The first recorded robbery of a stagecoach occurred in 1856, and the last in 1913. Over that period there were 458 stagecoach robberies, many with special characteristics such as a claim the robbers were Confederate soldiers, a murder, a gun battle, or a thrilling pursuit and capture. Surprisingly, there were many robberies in which the perpetrator remained unknown or in which was so little stolen the robber was not even sought out. This book gives all the details of those robberies taken from the contemporary newspapers and from a variety of other sources.
This edition profiles 75 illustrated murder cases committed within California, Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho and Montana. Accompanying photography returns the reader to the scene of the crime with precise listed locations. The most daunting dilemma of a murder investigation is typically uncovering proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a perpetrator committed a killing. The evolution of forensic technology has enabled investigators to match DNA profiles from evidence obtained at a crime scene with specific individual samplings. This development has resulted in several high profile cases ultimately achieving resolution. Some of the accompanying profiles have developed promising suspects and probable perpetrators, but lacked the tangible evidence or persuasive courtroom presentation to convict. In a few instances, due to the notoriety of the trial, the court of popular opinion did convict the defendant, yet they remain free of incarceration. Other cases have simply lacked accompanying evidence from the outset and subsequent clues or confessions have never materialized. For a victim’s immediate circle of family, acquaintances and even society in general, a lack of closure becomes an accompanying torment. Stolen lives deserve accountability and one cannot fully understand the enormity of loss without concrete explanations of motive. Given time, some of these cases may one day find closure. Some murderers do have a conscience and scientific advancements may one day piece together the fractured incoherency of inconclusive evidence. CALIFORNIA Unsolved Murders: The Zodiac Serial Killer, Black Dahlia, Rapper Notorious B.I.G>, Gangster Bugsy Siegel, Bonnie Lee Bakley, Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Joseph The Animal Barboza, Kevin Collins, Actress Virginia Rapp, Gangster Fung Little Pete Jing Toy, Film Director William Desmond Taylor, Actor Ted Healy, Sleepy Lagoon Killing, Geneva Elroy, Vic Weiss, Crib Founder Raymond Washington, Wonderland Murders, Karen Mitchell Disappearance, Susan Berman, Kristin Smart, Eastside Salinas Gang Killings, Santa Rose Hitchhiker Murders, Bob Domingos and Linda Edwards, Kym Morgan and Ramona Irene Price. Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen, Mickey and Trudy Thompson and Golden State Serial Killer OREGON State Prison Director Michael Francke, Diane Hank, Roma Ollison, Anne Jeanne Tingry-Le-Coz, Old Town Pizza Phantom, Alice Wells, Frank Akin, 1946 Willamette River Murder, Larry Peyton and Beverly Allan and Kyron Horman Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Federal Public defender Nancy Bergeson WASHINGTON Ann Marie Burr, Edwin Pratt, Judge Tom Wales, Chalisa Lewis, Louis Bellessa, Labor activist Laura Law, Charles Mattson, Nathan Trigger Gilstrap, Marsha Weatter and Katherine Allen, Tacoma’s Puyallup Avenue Prostitutes, Oleg Babichenko, Roseanne Pleasant, Susette Werner, Timothy Alioth and Donna Plew, Tia Hicks, Fred Cohen and James Jimmy Smith Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Barbara Hickey, Brian Cole, Michella Welch, Jennifer Bastian and Serial Killer Donna Perry NORTHERN IDAHO Remains of Fatty Carroll’s Murder Victims MONTANA Union agitator Frank Little, John Bozeman, Marjorie and Nancy McQuiston, Julianne Stallman, Florence Beauty Salon Massacre, Paul Maclean, Sheila Fallang-Jordan, Bobby Kelly, Mrs. John Dougherty, Nyleen Kay Marshall, Dr. Henry Cayley and Eva Hart Extended Cold Cases Resolved: Verna Joy Kvale and Donna Meagher
Avoid The Tourist Herds. What could be more uninspiring than seeing the identical attractions that everyone else has for decades? This Twisted Tour Guide escorts you to the places locals don’t want to talk about anymore…the same places people once couldn’t stop talking about. Long after the screaming headlines and sensationalism has subsided, these bizarre, infamous and obscure historical sites remain hidden awaiting rediscovery. Each visitation site in this guide is accompanied by a story. Many of the narratives defy believability, yet they are true. The profiled cast of characters feature saints and sinners (with emphasis towards the latter). Notorious crimes, murders, accidental deaths, suicides, kidnappings, vice and scandal are captivating human interest tales. The photography from each profile showcases the precise location where each event occurred. The scenes can seem ordinary, weird and/or sometimes very revealing towards clarifying the background behind events. If you’re seeking an alternative to conventional tourism, this Twisted Tourist Guide is ideal. Each directory accommodates the restless traveler and even resident looking for something unique and different. BOZEMAN Founder John Bozeman, Lady Mary Blackmore, Vigilante mob hearings and hangings, Grave robbers, Last standing brothel, Justice and public lynchings, Idaho Pole Company superfund and Downtown gas line explosion BUTTE Dynamite Explosion of 1895, Galloping gallows, Dumas Brothel, Apparitions of Fire Station #1, Adventuress Eva Hart, Blue Range Building, Copper King William Clark, Venus Alley, Butte Tin Shop, Chinatown, Royal Parlor House, Silver Dollar Saloon, Metals Bank Building, Temperance Icon Carrie Nation, Local miner’s union unrest, Anaconda Road Massacre, Martial law, Granite Mountain Mine Memorial, Execution of Labor agitator Frank Little, 1918 Spanish Influenza, Berkeley Copper Mine disaster, Board of Trade Saloon, Journalist Howard Rushmore, Dimple Knees, Evel Knievel, M & M Saloon, Elementary school shooting of Jeremy Bullock and the fatal aircraft crash inside Holy Cross Cemetery. HELENA Guardian of the Gulch lookout tower, Lime Kilns graffiti, Doomed prisoner escape on the Governor’s mansion stairwell, Refuge for unwed mothers and reforming prostitutes, Doomed Victorian Madames and their brothels, Montana Club swastikas, Phantom of the Greenstreet Theatre, Thomas Cruse, Helena Cathedral, Confederate soldier memorial fountain, Canary Bird Moonshiner, Gangland retaliation murder, 1935 Earthquake, Tragic inspiration for A River Runs Through It and 1989 Train collision. MISSOULA: Mercantile Building, Oxford Café, Murder of Maurice Higgins, Madame Mary Gleim, House of piercing screams, Wilma Theatre, Florence Building, Missoula Mauler, Merry Prankster Edith Greenough, Cold Case arrest and suicide thirty years after, University of Montana paranormal spirits and sex scandal, Acid bath murders and Party motel killings. SMALL TOWN STORIES Unabomber’s Sanctuary, Shoebox Annie the serial killer, Erasing father existence in Alberton, America’s largest toxic railroad spill, A Belgrade amateur execution, Actor Patrick Duffy’s parents murder, Nyleen Kay Marshall abduction, Jesse James Montana Days, Prison Warden Frank Conley, Mass murder in a beauty salon, Sheila Jordan’s unsolved killing, Casino abduction and precious metals killings, Morrisite sect church, Thermal hot springs hotel becomes mental institution and the ill-fated marital reunion murder…plus many more.
When prospector "Ed" Schieffelin set out from Fort Huachuca in 1877 in search of silver, skeptics told him all he'd find would be his own tombstone. What he did discover, of course, was one of the richest veins of silver in the West—a strike he wryly called Tombstone. Briefly a boomtown, in less than a decade Tombstone was fading into what, for the next half-century, looked more like a ghost town. How is it, Kara McCormack asks, that the resurrection of a few of the town's long-dead figures, caught forever in a thirty-second shoot-out, revived the moribund Tombstone—and turned it into what the Arizona Office of Tourism today calls "equal parts Deadwood and Disney"? A meditation on the marketing of "authenticity," Imagining Tombstone considers this "most authentic western town in America" as the intersection of history and mythmaking, entertainment and education, the wish to preserve, the will to succeed, and the need to survive. McCormack revisits the facts behind the feud that culminated in the Earp brothers' and Doc Holliday's long walk to their showdown with the Clantons and McLaurys—a walk reenacted by so many actors that it became a ritual of Hollywood westerns and a staple of present-day Tombstone's tourist offerings. Taking into account decades of preservation efforts, stories told by Hollywood, performances on the town's streets, the fervor of Earp historians and western history buffs, and global notions of the West, Imagining Tombstone shows how the town's tenacity depends on far more than a "usable past." If Tombstone is "The Town Too Tough to Die," it is also, as this edifying and entertaining book makes clear, the place where authentic history and its counterpart in popular culture reveal their lasting and lucrative hold on the public imagination.
Examines "the range of ... resources available in research libraries that cannot be found on the Internet. These include not only the tens of millions of books, journals, and other post-1923 printed sources that cannot be digitized because of copyright restrictions, but a rich array of subscription databases in all subject areas that are not accessible on the open Web, but are freely searchable via research libraries"--
