1999: Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis, the end of the road for Old Sparky
July 8th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1999, America’s obesity epidemic met Florida’s death penalty politics in the ugly electrocution of Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis.
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The reader will discern that Tiny earned his nickname ironically. Reportedly 159 kg (350 pounds) at his death, he’d put his ample heft to work bludgeoning a pregnant mother of two beyond recognition with a revolver handle back in 1982 … and then shooting to death the now-motherless two.
As his appeals meandered through the courts, Davis got fatter — and got high blood pressure, arthritis, hypertension and a wheelchair. Meanwhile, the death penalty was meandering its own way across the weird political chessboard of the Sunshine State.
For the American death penalty nowadays, it’s Texas and then everyone else … but time was that Florida was the capital of capital punishment.
It conducted the first “modern” involuntary execution in 1979. It had carried out three executions before anyone else had more than one. And when the the drip-drip-drip pace of one or two execution nationwide per year in the early 1980′s finally burst into a torrent, Florida led the way with eight of the 21 executions in 1984.
Not until late in 1986 did Texas overtake Florida in the body count sweepstakes.
All that time, Florida was happily using its vintage electric chair, Old Sparky (one of several electric chairs with that moniker), built in 1923 of 100% oak wood and prison labor. And the more the chair’s quasi-medieval ickiness drove other states to lethal injection, the more Floridians cherished electrocution.
Law-and-order Tampa mayor Bob Martinez won the governorship in 1986 on the promise that “Florida’s electric bill will go up.” There was a high-profile botch in 1990, and another in 1997 — flames shooting from the inmates’ heads. What was the state’s Attorney General going to do about it? “People who wish to commit murder, they’d better not do it in the state of Florida because we may have a problem with the electric chair.” Under pressure to move to lethal injection — the chair’s unsightly malfunctions were spawning legal and public relations nightmares that were gumming up the gears — the legislature voted nearly unanimously to keep Old Sparky.
And then along came a giant.
After three-quarters of a century and 266 jobs, Old Sparky was “falling apart” … and that was going to be a problem for a man of Davis’ carriage.
The killer’s lawyers argued that Davis was so fat he couldn’t conduct electricity efficiently and would be slowly cooked to death. According to Slate, Florida authorities were nervous that he’d break the chair during his electrocution and send a disconnected live cable scything into someone else in the room.
It was time for the unthinkable: Florida retired Old Sparky and built a new chair … and supersized it. (Image, from the Florida Department of Corrections)
And it worked, in that it killed Tiny. But what a mess — especially when an ensuing Florida Supreme Court opinion once again upheld the constitutionality of electrocution, and a dissenting judge attached the photos on this page to his opinions. Naturally, they became a grisly Internet sensation.
Old Sparky’s custom-built successor would only manage this single execution before Florida finally got on the lethal injection bandgurney.
Or at least, it’s only managed one so far. Old electric chairs don’t die, they just fade away … and in Florida, Tiny Davis’s chair remains available for condemned prisoners who choose it. Since this date in 1999, none have.
Also on this date
- 1486: Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, no sanctuary
- 1938: Anthony Chebatoris, in death penalty-free Michigan
- 1538: Diego de Almagro, explorer of Chile
- 1839: William John Marchant
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Botched Executions,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Electrocuted,Execution,Florida,History,Milestones,Murder,Notable Jurisprudence,Ripped from the Headlines,USA
Tags: 1999, allen lee davis, bob martinez, electric chair, florida state prison, florida supreme court, july 8, law, medicine, obesity, old sparky, politics, raiford, technology, tiny davis
September 24th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
bring back old sparky NOW!
December 17th, 2008 at 11:31 am
what the hells wrong with you
January 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Nothing at all was to severe for this slug. They should have bludgeon him to death like his victims.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:46 am
[...] first great American contribution — if you can call it that — to the the art of killing me softly was the electric chair, and its debut did not impress [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 1:28 am
[...] lost his case, but with the release of bloody photographs of the 1999 execution of Allen Lee Davis, more states began moving against the use of the electric [...]
July 26th, 2009 at 1:09 am
He´s got far less of what he really deserves.
Summary: Allen Lee Davis was convicted of killing a pregnant Jacksonville woman and her two young daughters on May 11, 1982. Davis was convicted of murdering Nancy Weiler, a Westinghouse executive’s wife in Jacksonville who was three months pregnant when she was killed in 1982. Mrs. Weiler was “beaten almost beyond recognition,” with a .357, hit over 25 times in the face and head. Her 9-year-old daughter Kristina was tied up and shot twice in the face, and her 5-year-old daughter Katherine was shot as she was trying to run away and then her skull was beaten in with the gun.
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 am
wow great pics its about time somone showed us pics of the freak who kill inocent kids and people can’t wait until someone gets the vid bring on electric chair mmmm frying tonight
October 31st, 2009 at 12:42 am
[...] 13. August 8, 1944: Eight July 20 plotters – A second beneficiary of Valkyrie search traffic. 14. July 8, 1999: Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis – Gruesome bloody photos of the Florida electric chair’s last client. 15. April 10, 1905: Fou [...]
December 31st, 2009 at 3:56 am
As evil as nazi Germany was, their method of execution was one of, if not the most humane ever.
The good old classic Guillotine.
January 17th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
It should be brought back in every state. I’d volunteer to knife the sizzle switch for them. The more cruel and inhumane the better.
February 21st, 2010 at 4:07 am
[...] in the center, but the controls were behind a glass-enclosed area. I was repelled by the sight of “Old Sparky,” the electric chair. I was even more horrified to see that the executioner, a local electrician, [...]
May 25th, 2010 at 10:23 am
[...] created by this policy contributed to the Sunshine State’s later legal and public relations headaches with its execution [...]
October 31st, 2010 at 10:08 am
[...] to death was filmed 14. Sep. 10, 1977: Hamida Djandoubi – The last drop for the French guillotine 15. July 8, 1999: Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis – So rotund, Florida built him a new electric chair 16. Dec. 11, 1962: Arthur Lucas and Ronald [...]
March 20th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
[...] photographs of Davis slumped in the electric chair, his shirt red with blood, incited protests and legal challenges that sought [...]
March 20th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
[...] photographs of Davis slumped in the electric chair, his shirt red with blood, incited protests and legal challenges that sought [...]
July 11th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
No sympathy for this guy. Time for Americans to find our backbone again. There is no way to make death “pretty,” and all the lawsuits complaining about the alleged cruelty of lethal injection prove it’s got nothing to do with prohibition against cruel AND unusual punishment, and everything to do with wanting to keep murderers alive to enjoy a long life and a natural cause of death.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:19 am
[...] particular chair, though a latecomer and a modest overall contributor by the standards of Louisiana’s neighbors, would make itself the subject of highest jurisprudence a few years later by not merely botching [...]
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:53 pm
[...] that iconic American killing device, the electric chair, aging into obsolescence; [...]
April 7th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
[...] operation of the apparatus upon his form is his concern, the account he will make of himself on that stage (Henry VIII’s adulterous [...]
July 9th, 2012 at 5:01 am
ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY NOW! EVERYWHERE! FOREVER!!!
As horrifying as the pics on this thread are, they are STILL not as, well, shocking, as some of the comments on this thread. The death penalty creates a SICK society, where death produces a clamor for MORE death, and more BRUTAL death. The cycle never ends, until the death penalty is abolished, and forgiveness/restitution/reconciliation happen. Merciful Lord, speed the day…
July 9th, 2012 at 7:58 am
Jcf…you are turned around in your thinking. You see everlasting good in everyone. You believe redemption is for and will be received by everyone. You believe sadistic killers have value and need to be kept alive. And you believe you have God on you side. But your thinking is exceedingly screwed, and you need to wash out your headgear.
September 18th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
This man did not deserve to die. What he did was very wrong indeed by killing a mother and her children.
However there is reason behind all of it. People have very little sympathy for Allen Lee Davis.
If you ever got to read some of Allen’s background you will find out that he came from an abusive home where his father would verbally and physically abuse him.
Allen came from a very poor and uneducated family. His mother married two men who very abusive and alcoholics.
Allen was bullied in school for being overweight and a stutterer. This resulted in having a very low IQ.
Not to mention, Allen was molested as a child by some man and was not fed or clothed properly.
Despite all of this sadness, Allen was a kind and a real gentleman. He helped take care of his sick mother by cooking and cleaning for her. Allen took care of his friends and got along with everyone. He was always a follower and never a leader. He was kind never badmouthed anyone especially his own father. He respected the women in his life and took care of them. And despite the abuse his father and step father gave him, he always helped them and tried so hard to make them love him. He was just a gentle giant with a heart of gold who so badly was denied of love and would do anything to be loved by anyone.
Allen suffered a lot with his health. He committed this murder because he was helpless and had no job. Due to his health problems in brain from being hit as a child he did not even remember he killed anyone.
I am not saying what he did was good. Allen did a very wicked thing. However, Allen is not a wicked person. He made his victims suffer. However he would have not done it if only he was loved and properly guided by someone to have a better future.
Remember everyone deserves a second chance in life.
WE ARE ALL SINNERS. SO AS SINNERS LET US LEAVE IT UP TO GOD TO DECIDE WHICH ONE AMONG US SHOULD GET PUNISHED. THERE IS A MUCH HIGHER POWER AMONG ALL OF US! -MAHATMA ( GREAT SOUL )GANDHI.
September 18th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
I forgot to mention. Even the prison guards mentioned Allen had a good above average behavior.
Rest in peace Allen Lee Davis, Nancy Wieler and her children
April 18th, 2013 at 3:03 am
samskruthi you are an idiot.
Burn in hell “Tiny” you degenerate fat fk!