1904: Zenon Champoux, French degenerate
Add comment May 6th, 2010 Headsman
On this date in 1904, the state of Washington carried out its first execution under the auspices of a new law requiring that hangings be held in that state’s penitentiary in Walla Walla.*
Its subject was French-Canadian laborer Zenon Champoux, and his crime was as flamboyant as his moniker: publicly planting a knife in the forehead of a dance hall girl who did not return his affections.
The first man executed under the auspices of the Evergreen State, we admit, is a milestone that’s a bit on the smaller side.
But we think his name stands out admirably in the annals, especially paired with a characterization like the Seattle Star gave him: French degenerate.
“Zenon Champoux, French Degenerate” — it’s the scoundrel who’s rogering your girl, or else the branding on his designer condoms. On this date in 1904, it was just the guy at the end of his rope.
* Previously, hangings had been conducted by counties, in public. Laws removing them to the auspices of the state and behind the walls of a prison were in vogue at the time.
Washington went on to abolish the death penalty in 1913, only to reinstate it again in 1919.
On this day..
- 1506: James Tyrrell, Princes in the Tower murderer? - 2020
- 1780: Dennis Carragan, John Hill, and Marmaduke Grant, robbers - 2019
- 1916: Not Constance Markievicz, "I do wish your lot had the decency to shoot me" - 2018
- 1801: Franz Troglauer - 2017
- 1791: William Jones, "in a country out of the reach of my enemies" - 2016
- 1955: Johnson William Caldwell - 2015
- 1887: Theodore Baker, who knew how it feels to be hanged - 2014
- 1958: Vivian Teed, a first and a last - 2013
- 1970: Ibrahim Husain Muhammad - 2012
- 1972: Deniz Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan, and Huseyin Inan, Turkish revolutionaries - 2011
- 1777: Antoine-Francois Derues, scam artist - 2009
- 1916: Syrian and Lebanese nationalists, who christen "Martyr's Day" - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Execution,Hanged,Milestones,Murder,Sex,USA,Washington
Tags: 1900s, 1904, lottie brace, may 6, names, seattle, walla walla, zenon champoux
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