Present-day California is often seen as the most liberal, tolerant state in the Union. It‘s sold with images of sunshine, surfing, and hippies; a relaxed, easy-going kind of place where, within reason, anything goes. This is a fallacy. While 1967 might have been California’s ‘Summer of Love’ July of 1851 wasn’t. Certainly not for … Continue reading On This Day in 1851 – Josefa ‘Juanita’ Segovia, rough justice or legal lynching?
True Crime
Lawmakers, laws and those who break them.
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Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in Northern California, out on August 28.
Hello there. It’s been a while since I last posted, but I’ve been busy on the second of three books for Fonthill's 'America Through Time' series. This Rogues Gallery features sixteen of Northern California's most wanted (and most interesting). Some are famous, some are not, but all have their own particular importance. Home to San … Continue reading Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in Northern California, out on August 28.
RIP Jerry Givens, former Virginia executioner-turned-abolitionist.
Jerry Givens was an unlikely campaigner against the death penalty. A correctional officer at the Virginia State Penitentiary since the early 1970’s, Givens was also its resident executioner. Until going to prison himself in 1999 on perjury and money-laundering charges (charges he always denied) Givens rose through the ranks. At first supporting the death … Continue reading RIP Jerry Givens, former Virginia executioner-turned-abolitionist.
On This Day in 1957 – Robert Eugene ‘Bobby’ Carter, last man executed in Washington D.C.
It’s quite unlikely that many people, even DC residents, remember cop-killer Robert Carter. Arrested for murdering police officer George Cassels on 11 July 1953, Carter was never likely to win clemency from the courts or from the President who had sole pardoning authority within the District of Columbia. On 27 April 1957 Carter … Continue reading On This Day in 1957 – Robert Eugene ‘Bobby’ Carter, last man executed in Washington D.C.
San Quentin, Doil Miller and Alfred Dusseldorf – Justice? Or just law?
At San Quentin 7 March 1952 dawned grey and cold, not unusual for the area. The prison’s inmates, then nearly two thousand strong, knew that day was unusual. Two of their number, Miller and Dusseldorf, were to die at 10am that morning for a robbery and murder committed in Alameda in 1949. As they sat … Continue reading San Quentin, Doil Miller and Alfred Dusseldorf – Justice? Or just law?
Martha Place – The first woman in the electric chair.
A free chapter from my book 'Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in New York,' available now. Like many countries the US has an at times contradictory attitude to its death penalty, no more so than when a woman faces execution. Women account for fewer than 5% of death sentences in the US and less than 1% … Continue reading Martha Place – The first woman in the electric chair.
Justice denied in Colorado; Joe Arridy visits ‘Roy’s Penthouse.’
“Yes, they are killing me.” – Joe Arridy, when asked by Warden Roy Best if he understood why he was about to step into Colorado’s gas chamber. It’s rarer than it used to be that a case affects me as much as this one. If you cover true crime for a living then you learn … Continue reading Justice denied in Colorado; Joe Arridy visits ‘Roy’s Penthouse.’
On This Day in 1932, Michael Malloy – The Man Who Would Not Die
They had started with the obvious: alcohol. That should have been a simple, effective means of their victim destroying himself rather than the Trust taking the additional risk of actually murdering him. Insurance fraud was not a capital offence then or now; first-degree murder no longer is in New York State, but in 1932, it certainly was. The 1920s and 1930s was the busiest period for New York’s electric chair, averaging around twenty executions every year. If choosing Malloy was a bad idea, then actually murdering him was even worse.
On This Day in 1927 – Paul Hilton, Antonio Paretti and the finale of the Mafia-Camorra War.
Double executions were no rarity at Sing Sing, especially in the 1920’s. The Jazz Age saw an unprecedented number of men (and a few women), 125, walk their last mile in the Empire State. That trend would peak in the 1930’s (153) before decreasing in the 1940’s (114), continuing to drop in the 1950’s (55). … Continue reading On This Day in 1927 – Paul Hilton, Antonio Paretti and the finale of the Mafia-Camorra War.
On This Day in 1932, Vincent ‘Mad Dog’ Coll is finally put to sleep.
Vincent 'Mad Dog' Coll was the archetypal wild, reckless, violent young gangster of the Prohibition era. Even at a time when crooks like Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger and Al Capone inflicted violence and death on a regular basis, Coll managed to stand out as being especially vicious. An aura of complete recklessness, seeming unconcern … Continue reading On This Day in 1932, Vincent ‘Mad Dog’ Coll is finally put to sleep.
