1952: Lloyd Edison Sampsell, the Yacht Bandit
Add comment April 25th, 2016 Robert Elder
(Thanks to Robert Elder of Last Words of the Executed — the blog, and the book — for the guest post. This post originally appeared on the Last Words blog. Fans of this here site are highly likely to enjoy following Elder’s own pithy, almanac-style collection of last words on the scaffold. -ed.)
Thanks for a million things. Thanks for a million things. I’ve got a son, six foot three inches, one hundred and seventy pounds. He’s married, got two kids. He’s in the service overseas right now. … So I’ve left something good — one decent thing out of a dirty life …
— Lloyd Edison Sampsell (aka “the Yacht Bandit”), convicted of robbery and murder, gas chamber, California.
Executed April 25, 1952
Sampsell and an accomplice plundered Pacific Coast banks before stealing away in his yacht. He pilfered a total of $200,000 in his career but died with only $5.27 to his name. Sampsell, age fifty-two, was convicted of killing Arthur W. Smith in a San Diego finance company robbery.
Before the gas took its effect, he turned to the nearly one hundred witnesses gathered and winked.
On this day..
- 1328: Pierre de Remi, royal treasurer - 2020
- 1804: Hans Jakob Willi, Bockenkrieger - 2019
- 1827: Blue Jimmy - 2018
- 1859: Oscar Jackson lynched, precipitating the Wright County War - 2017
- 1864: Thomas Dawson, manhood sealed - 2015
- 1683: Yaoya Oshichi, fire horse - 2014
- 1900: Bill Brown, Sonnie Crain and John Watson - 2013
- 1945: Ewald Ehlers lynched - 2012
- 1938: Yakov Peters, Siege of Sidney Street survivor - 2011
- 1644: Looters in conquered Beijing - 2010
- 1649: John Poyer, the lucky winner - 2009
- 1792: Nicolas Pelletier, Madame Guillotine's first kiss - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,California,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Execution,Gassed,Guest Writers,History,Murder,Other Voices,Pelf,Theft,USA
Tags: 1950s, 1952, april 25, lloyd sampsell
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