January 11, 1985Columbia, South CarolinaJoseph Carl Shaw is executed for the murder of two teens On October 29, 1977, Shaw (22) and two companions — James Terry Roach (17) and Ronald Eugene Mahaffey (16) — decided to “see if we could find a girl to rape,” according to Mahaffey. The trio armed themselves with a…
The execution of Charles Brooks, the first person to be executed by lethal injection
December 7, 1982Huntsville, TexasCharles Brooks Jr. (also known as Shareef Ahmad Abdul-Rahim) is executed for the murder of a man, becoming the first person to be executed by lethal injection Lethal injection was first proposed by Oklahoma state medical examiner Jay Chapman who got the idea for a humane alternative to the electric chair while…
Man executed for stabbing a woman in the throat with a pair of scissors during a sexual assault
November 30, 1956Eddyville, KentuckyJames Franklin Bowman (44) is executed for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman Roberta Busby was attacked on August 29, 1954 and found by her neighbor about 6 to 10 hours after her death at approximately 2:30 a.m. on August 30. Busby’s throat had been slashed deeply enough to sever…
Woman is executed — probably wrongly — for the murder of a man
November 13, 1863San Patricio, TexasJosefa “Chipita” Rodriguez is executed for the murder of a man On August 25, 1863, the body of John Savage was found in a burlap sack in the Aransas River. The cause of death was immediately apparent: his skull had been caved in by an axe. Savage was a horse trader…
Man executed for the shooting death of a teenager
November 9, 1899Moundsville, West VirginiaFrank Broadenax (29) is hanged for the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old Broadenax (alternatively spelled Broadnax) had been part of a group of men, called “strong and lusty fellows” by the press, who established themselves as the local law enforcement in their mining camp. The men appointed a judge who in…
