January 24, 1992ArkansasRickey Ray Rector is executed for the murder of a police officer On March 22, 1981, Rector and a group of friends visited a dance hall in Conway, Arkansas. An argument soon broke out regarding the hall’s $3 admission charge and Rector drew his .38 caliber pistol before firing randomly. Three men were…
Man executed for the murder of his wife who hadn’t had the “opportunity to kill herself”
January 4, 1946Tucker, ArkansasJames Waybern Hall is executed for the murder of his wife In early 1945, the bodies of several men, presumably the victims of robbery, were found in multiple counties across Arkansas, on or near highways. On January 19, 1945, C.F. Hamilton was found. On February 1, the body of E.C. Adams was…
Woman and two of her children are found dead in their apartment after a robbery
December 5, 2017Little Rock, ArkansasThe bodies of Mariah Cunningham (24) and her two children — A’Laylaih Fisher (5) and Elijah Fisher (4) — are found in their home Warning: The details of this article may be considered graphic. Discretion is advised. The victims had each been stabbed repeatedly — 4-year-old Elijah had 14 wounds centralized…
“Crime tourist” executed for murder
March 18, 1938 Tucker, Arkansas Lester Brocklehurst (24, pictured) is executed for the murder of a man during a robbery Brocklehurst (sometimes spelled Brockelhurst) was a former Mormon Sunday school teacher turned “crime tourist,” as the press at the time referred to him. Beginning on March of 1937, Brocklehurst and his 18-year-old girlfriend Bernice Felton…
Rufus Buck and his gang are hanged for rape
July 1, 1896 Fort Smith, Arkansas Rufus Buck, leader of the Rufus Buck Gang, is hanged along with the 4 other members of the gang for the gang-rape of a woman in front of her husband and children The Rufus Buck Gang were only together for 13 days, but during that time they robbed, murdered,…