1854: Willis Washam, “I never done it, though, boys”
Today’s hanging comes courtesy of a public domain History of Greene County, Missouri, whose account we reproduce in full below: HANGING OF WILLIS WASHAM — THE FIRST LEGAL EXECUTION IN GREENE COUNTY....
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1999: David Leisure, mob war veteran
Gangster David Leisure — not to be confused with the “Joe Isuzu” actor of the same name — was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on this date in 1999. A rare real-life mafioso — perhaps the first...
View Article1868: Melvin Baughn, Pony Express rider turned horse thief
We cadge today’s entry from the August 1950 Kansas Historical Quarterly; the article “Legal Hangings in Kansas” by Louise Barry can be perused in pdf form here. A footnote in the original notes that...
View Article1953: Carl Hall and Bonnie Brown Heady
On this date in 1953 — six months after the execution of a more notorious couple, the Rosenbergs — two Missouri kidnappers were gassed together for the abduction-murder of a millionaire car dealer’s...
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2020: Walter Barton, coronavirus milestone
Missouri graced America with her first coronavirus pandemic execution tonight. Aptly emblematic of a moment where crumbling institutions reveal the post-Cold War empire’s far-advanced rot, Walter...
View Article1881: Albert and Charles Talbott, bad sons
Dr. Perry H. Talbott was among the most prominent citizens of Nodaway County, Missouri. In addition to being a skilled physician, Talbott was state legislator, a writer and a newspaper editor. He was a...
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1938: Adam “Eddie” Richetti, Pretty Boy Floyd sidekick
On this date in 1938, Adam “Eddie” Richetti was gassed for a notorious gangland bloodbath, the Kansas City Massacre. Whether he was actually involved in said massacre is a different question. Richetti...
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