This week in 1854
“Oh merciful God—merciful God—look down on me! Oh, merciful Jesus, have mercy on my soul. Oh, Sir, will it be anyways easy? I never thought I should come to this! Oh, merciful Jesus, what have I come to at last!… Oh God! Oh, Jesus!”
— William Darry, convicted of murder, hanging, New York
Executed December 1, 1854
An episodically violent man, ship carpenter William Darry often beat his wife Mary in private. What would be her last beating lasted three days, during which Darry, in a drunken rage, beat her so repeatly that her injuries proved fatal. Darry killed his wife in mid-August and was hanged in December.
This week in 1958
To a guard, after tearing the heel off one of his shoes:
“I don’t want anybody else to stand in my shoes.”
— Richard Carpenter, convicted of murder, electric chair, Illinois.
Executed December 19, 1958
Carpenter, age twenty-seven, went to the electric chair for murdering a policeman on a subway platform. According to one newspaper, prior to being led to the death chamber he said, “I don’t believe in God. I’m going to the electric chair, and there’s nothing I an do about it.”
Although the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that Carpenter went silently to the chair, another publication quoted him as saying, “Get it over with quick”—words that were muffled by the black hood over his head.
This week in 1926
“Thank you for all you have done for me. You have been a loyal friend. Please take care of my wife and little one.”
— James “One-Eye” Lynch, convicted of murder, electric chair, New Jersey
Executed November 30, 1926
After authorities sifted through eight arrested men who they believed were involved in the robbing and murder of American Railway Express Company Messenger Frank Brannon, James “One-Eye” Lynch was singled out as the shooter. Accomplice Frank Cuneo led police the hiding place of $1800 of the $6395 stolen and fingered Lynch as the secretor of the money and the murderer. Husband and father of a small child, Lynch befriended prison Chaplain Cornelius J. McInerney, and requested that he look out for his family after his death.
