This week in 1960

“Perhaps my execution will help to do away with capital punishment.”

— Robert Harmon, assault with a deadly weapon while under a life sentence, gas chamber, California.
Executed August 9, 1960

Despite the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union, Harmon saw himself as too violent and bloodthirsty to go on living. A four-time convict serving ten years to life for armed robbery, Harmon was convicted of knifing a fellow inmate, a crime punishable by death. Harmon stated that if not put to death he would continue his attacks. He demanded that no one interfere with his sentence.