Willie Francis (* 12.Januar 1929 in St. Martinville, Louisiana; † 9. Gilbert King, author of [The Execution of Willie Francis], told the story of Willie Francis, who was sentenced to death, strapped in the electric chair and electrocuted, but didn't die. Having miraculously survived, Willie was informed that the state would attempt to execute him a second time within a week. Willie wrote, “Practically I killed Andrew by accident. In fact, Willie Francis, just as he had when he wrote in his confession that “it was a secret about me and him,” alluded to something different than the robbery-turned killing prosecutors accused him of. His court-appointed attorneys neither called nor cross examined any witnesses, and did not even make a case in defense of their 16-year-old client. One of the things that drew me to this story as I was working on my book, The Execution of Willie Francis, was the shroud of secrecy that surrounded the Willie Francis case. On May 3, 1946, in picturesque St. Martinville, Louisiana, a seventeen year-old black boy was scheduled for execution by electric chair inside of a tiny redbrick jail. One minute he was joking around with us and the next bright red blood was spewing out of his mouth. I will be waiting all my cares are for you. The chair shuddered and slid across the floor. Letters and telegrams began pouring into St. Martinville from across the country—spurred on by editorials and radio commentaries. A new book revisits an old case about a Louisiana prisoner who was executed by electrocution — twice. Willie Wortel. I find this kind of unfair. During his forty-year robbery career he stole an estimated $2 million, and he eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escaped three times.For his talent at executing robberies in disguises, he gained two nicknames, "Willie the Actor" and "Slick Willie". Overland Park, Ks 66215 I'll be watching over you. It was on May 9, 1947 that a 17-year old black teenager walked his last mile. 2:32. 10. I don’t know if this man is are was related to me, If so I want to know.??? We’ve compiled a photographic gallery of heart-wrenching images which capture the last moments before disaster of several United States Army Air Force bombers during World War II. “The best way I can describe it is: Whamm! Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Capital Punishment,Children,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Diminished Capacity,Disfavored Minorities,Electrocuted,Execution,Guest Writers,History,Louisiana,Murder,Notable Jurisprudence,Other Voices,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,USA, Tags: 1940s, 1947, gilbert king, may 9, supreme court, willie francis. Dreams they leave and die. Willie Francis (Ska/Reggae singer) Willie Francis, born Wilbert Francis March 18, 1943 in Farm District in South Manchester, Jamaica is a Ska/Reggae singer who went to prominence in the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's and known for hits such as 'Oh What a Mini' which was a top ten hit in the Jamaican charts. He packed his own bag and drove himself to hospital. Add to my search list. our one-of-a-kind custom playing card deck, 1948: U Saw and the assassins of Aung San, 1947: Willie Francis, this time successfully, 1935: John Stephenson Bainbridge, ten-minute alibi, 1800: Three Canadian pirates in Philadelphia, 1961: Alvin Table Jr. and Billy Wayne Sees, Bahamas pirates, 1979: Rahim Ali Khorram and Habib Elghanian, millionaire businessmen, 1474: Peter von Hagenbach, war crimes milestone, 1766: Thomas Arthur de Lally-Tollendal, undiplomatic, 1794: Four members of the Targowica Confederation, 1628: Johan Bernhard Reichardt, a nine-year-old witch, 1946: Not Willie Francis, who survived the electric chair, 1933: Giuseppe Zangara, who is not on Sons of Italy posters, 1936: Bruno Richard Hauptmann, The Most Hated Man in the World, 1936: Rainey Bethea, America’s last public hanging, 1855: The slave Celia, who had no right to resist, ExecutedToday.com » 1879: Three botches in three states, ExecutedToday.com » Executed Today’s Second Annual Report: Once Bitten, Twice Die, ExecutedToday.com » 1946: Not Willie Francis, who survived the electric chair, 1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last, 2009: Ehsan Fatahian, Iranian Kurdish activist, 1066: John Scotus, sacrificed to Radegast, 1801: Hyacinth Moise, Haitian Revolution general, 1738: George Whalley and Dean Briant, wife-murderers, 1971: Ishola Oyenusi, smiling to his death, 1943: Michal Kruk, Przemysl Pole who aided the Jews, 1959: Charles Starkweather, Nebraska spree killer. The last words of another controversial American military leader, Benedict Arnold, are also the stuff of national folklore. He’d been brought back to his cell, and the sheriff allowed reporters and a photographer to visit with Willie, where he told them that death tasted “like peanut butter” and looked a lot “like shines in a rooster’s tail.” The photographer asked for a few pictures, and Willie, holding his dog-eared Bible, stood in front of a dull pink wall. Here’s another strange but true case, this one courtesy of the State of Louisiana. Thats cold…and could only imagine how he felt….I feel so bad for him and hope he rest in peace. Both are dead, and the official story does not ring true. Once the inmate is strapped to the chair, and the voltage is turned on and off, the prisoner is legally dead. Willie Francis is best remembered for getting out of the electric chair, shaken but alive, minutes after being strapped into it. Catalogue information. He became known as the "Killer Clown" thanks to the numerous parties he attended where he worked as a children's entertainer wearing a clown suit and full-face makeup. Three hundred pounds of oak and metal, the chair had been dubbed “Gruesome Gertie.” At 12:08 PM, the executioners flipped the switch. Willie Francis never denied killing Andrew Thomas. But not for the first time. His last words before he died were ‘Why is this happening to me?’ It still haunts me years later.” —Awk_Ward1. Willie’s appointed lawyers called no witnesses, presented no evidence and had not filed a single appeal once he was sentenced to die by electrocution. There was a lot of glare on the wall, and the photographer had gotten a much better one of Willie smiling — the picture that ended up on the front page of many newspapers the next day. Winston Heywood & The Upsetters Long Long Time & Dub - … In this confession, Willie wrote, “it was a secret about me and him,” which was never explained. The first? Join Facebook to connect with Willie Francis and others you may know. Shop for Vinyl, CDs and more from Willie Francis at the Discogs Marketplace. “I wasn’t after money,” Willie insisted to a reporter before he went to the chair a second time. Is it really legal to kill a person twice? Episode 2 of Crime Historian: the Podcast features John Francis Wille, born in 1964, who allegedly began committing murders when he was as young as sixteen years old. Thomas’ brother Claude was the town’s chief of police, and Willie was convicted by twelve Cajun jurors and sentenced to death by a Cajun judge. Your email address will not be published. Could Louisiana really electrocute someone twice? Not yet in collections. Willie Francis - Topic 556 views. “You look like an angel.” “I’m a nurse and was previously working at an assisted living community on the dementia/Alzheimer’s unit. And shed a little tear. His most notorious crime, and the one was he was convicted of, was the kidnap, rape, and murder of 8-year-old Nichole Lopatta in June of 1985. That clearly shows the racist and hyporcrisy of this country he was a child and they did not hesitate to kill him before they knew the truth.Those people were evil and the residents of that time should have been ashamed to be a part of that or allowed that to happen! Rather he shows his unsurpassed sporting and academic ability, and may remove his shirt from time to time to seal the deal. His head had been shaved and his pant leg had been torn so that current could cleanly surge through the body of the 17-year-old Louisiana youth as he sat strapped into the electric chair known as “Gruesome Gertie.” Goodnight, God bless. Richard Feynman, a physicist, author, musician, professor, and traveler, died in Los Angeles in 1988. Isn't it lovely, when the dawn brings the dew. Your email address will not be published. Francis is a very attractive male, usually of Italian descent, but does not flaunt his nationality to attract females. Pool / … Not surprisingly, the sheriff had testified under oath that Willie had confessed to killing Andrew Thomas in writing on the wall of his cell a month before he was scheduled to die in the chair. The 17 year old black youth had been sentenced to death by electrocution in 1945 for murdering a white drugstore owner in his native St. Martinville, Louisiana, but faulty wiring and drunken executioners prevented the chair from completing its gruesome work. A well-wrought tale of murder, secrets, lies and state-sponsored and state-botched retribution. But the Sheriff had also taken Willie’s words out of context, reading only select portions of the writing, and mischaracterizing others. My name is Rev Willie Francis, and I was born in the state of Louisiana an I want to know if the state of Louisiana will right the wrong of Willie Francis. Required fields are marked *, © Copyright 2020 ExecutedToday.com :: All Rights Reserved :: A WordPress joint Theme originally by WarAxe at Negative99, modified by Brian at Logjamming Contact the Headsman. I'm just gonna close my eyes, think about my family. Explore releases from Willie Francis at Discogs. But he never came home. I scanned it onto my computer and ran it through Photoshop, adding contrast and burning and dodging until the words could be read. He committed the crime as a juvenile. Goodnight, sleep tight. It was obvious to me that there was more to Willie’s story than the version presented in trial and to the public. Not yet in a search list. Timothy McVeigh. Willie Francis (Ska/Reggae singer) Willie Francis, born Wilbert Francis March 18, 1943 in Farm District in South Manchester, Jamaica is a Ska/Reggae singer who went to prominence in the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's and known for hits such as 'Oh What a Mini' which was a top ten hit in the Jamaican charts. 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