1955: Leslie George Hylton, a better bowler than liar
1 comment May 17th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1955, Test cricketer Leslie George Hylton was hanged in Spanish Town, Jamaica, for murdering his wife.
Hylton represented the West Indies in six grueling Test cricket matches in the 1930’s. (Career statistics.)
And apparently he had a thing about adultery, because when he found out his wife was having an affair, he shot her dead. Trying to shoot himself, he told John Law, but his alibi was even worse than his aim: she’d been shot seven times, meaning the fast bowler had reloaded.
Hylton is the only Test cricketer known to have suffered the death penalty. Fans took his death in stride:
Australia were touring the West Indies, and when the Jamaican opener JK Holt followed a run of low scores by dropping two catches in the Test at Bridgetown, a play card urged “Save Hylton, hang Holt.”
Cricket officialdom, though, kept such a stiff upper lip that Hylton’s obituary in its leading publication managed not to mention that his passing had involved a noose.
On this day..
- 1865: George Baker and George Beal, Salem murderers - 2020
- 1872: Matias Salazar - 2019
- 1693: Francis Winter, at the Whitefriars sanctuary - 2018
- 1723: Christopher Layer, for the Atterbury Plot - 2017
- 1649: Three Banbury mutineers at Burford church - 2016
- 1536: Anne Boleyn's supposed lovers - 2015
- 1866: Mokomoko and the Maori killers of Carl Volkner - 2014
- 1521: Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham - 2013
- 1964: Namgyal Bahadur, Bhutan assassin - 2012
- 1868: Kondo Isami, Shinsengumi - 2011
- Themed Set: Executions for Abolitionists - 2010
- 1995: Girvies Davis, framed? - 2010
- 1972: The rapists of Maggie dela Riva - 2009
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Athletes,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Entertainers,Execution,Hanged,Jamaica,Murder
Tags: cricket
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