This week in 1930

February 21st, 2015 by admin

“The world loves a good sport and hates a bad loser.”

— Eva Dugan, convicted of murder, hanging, Arizona.
Executed February 21, 1930

Convicted of murdering A. J. Mathis, Dugan first tried to tie the crime to a mysterious figure named Jack. She then later claimed insanity, saying, “Anybody can look at me and see I’m bughouse.” Rejecting last-minute religious consolation, she said, “I’m going to die as I lived.” The quote above comes from an interview, when she responded to a question about her “iron will.”

What made her death most notable was its botched outcome: her head severed from her body as she plunged through the trapdoor.

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