This week in 1947

In a note to the warden:
“I am write [sic] you this letter to let you know how much I appreciate what you have did for me tell all the Boys in here and on the outside that Crimes don’t pay no one but the lawyers.”

En route to the death chamber:
“I’m going to sit in the chair and go to sleep.”

— Ernest Gaither JR., convicted of murder, electric chair, Illinois.
Executed October 24, 1947

Gaither went to the electric chair for the shooting death of Max Baran during a three-hundred-dollar bar robbery. He spent his final day reading the Bible and writing letters, and requested a bowl of cornflakes for his last meal. Waiting for midnight to arrive, he sang gospel songs including “Just a Little Talk with Jesus” and “I Know the Lord Has Laid His Hand on Me.” Witnesses to his execution included his two sons.