John Louis Evans Research Paper

John Louis Evans, half of a well known criminal duo, committed over forty crimes while on parole with his partner, Wayne Ritter. Included in those many incidents were robberies, kidnappings, and extortion schemes. Eventually, these crimes turned deadly when the pair killed a pawn shop owner in the midst of a robbery. After only fifteen minutes in court for the murder, Evans was sentenced to be put to death by electric chair.

Evans was put to death on April 22, 1983 in Yellow Mama, an electric chair built by a convict six decades before, and had not been used in over two. 1,900 volts of electricity circulated through Evans body for 30 seconds. The average execution by electric chair lasts 2-15 minutes. Around the 30 second mark, Evans body

That's just over 1.5% of all the death penalties. Unfortunately, the rate of innocence is over double that, coming in at above 4%. These stats prove the point some dread: Many people have been killed for crimes they didn't do. Ledell Lee, a man from Arkansas, was executed on April 20th, 2017 for the murder of his neighbor in 1993. Up until he was killed, he claimed his innocence. He called for DNA tests, none of the results pointing to him. Witnesses from the crime scene had claimed there was blood everywhere, but not on Lee. He was executed anyways. The world may never know if he was truly innocent or not, but the decision was made and carried out before there was proof he even did anything wrong. In another case, a man named Carlos DeLuna was sentenced to death and executed in the year 1989 for stabbing a gas clerk to death. DeLuna claimed he was innocent to the end. After he was killed, a report was published proving his innocence. If for no other reason, the death penalty should be abolished for the one in twenty-five innocent people that have been

In the 1890's, a man named George Painter was hanged for the death of his wife. Although Painter claimed he was innocent, not much investigation was put into the case. During the execution, two ropes were tied around Painter's thighs, and a hood placed over his head. When the noose was around his neck and he had said his last words, the ropes were cut, and Painter plummeted down. Instead of killing him, the rope went tight and snapped, sending Painter to the ground. Doctors established that although his neck had broken, he was still alive. When the rope was taken from around his neck, the blood quickly turned his white robe and hood red. The execution was reset, this time killing