1945: Robert E. Folkes, the first condemned man to see the Oregon gas chamber
Add comment January 5th, 2016 Headsman
(Thanks to Robert Elder of Last Words of the Executed — the blog, and the book — for the guest post. 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.)
“I have nothing to say except that I am innocent. It’s easier to convict a Negro than a white person. So long everybody.”
—Robert E. Folkes, convicted of murder, gas chamber, Oregon.
Executed January 5, 1945
Folkes, age twenty-three, was convicted of slashing a woman’s throat on a Southern Pacific train while working as a cook. The Associated Press described him as “the first condemned man to see the chamber,” as Folkes was the first prisoner to ever walk into the Oregon gas chamber without a blindfold on.
On this day..
- 2011: Yaqub Ali, stabber - 2020
- 546: Croesus - 2019
- 1866: Charles Carrington - 2018
- 1963: Stanislaw Jaros, twice-failed assassin - 2017
- 1900: Geronimo Parra and Antonio Flores, the last hanged in El Paso - 2015
- 1771: Captain David Ferguson, for the murder of his cabin-boy - 2014
- 1655: Jane Hopkins, Bermuda's last known witch execution - 2013
- 1638: Four Frenchmen in effigy - 2012
- 1917: Sub-Lt. Edwin Dyett, shot at dawn - 2011
- 1993: Westley Allan Dodd, child molester - 2010
- 1527: Felix Manz, the first Anabaptist martyr - 2009
- 1463: Not François Villon - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Disfavored Minorities,Execution,Gassed,Murder,Oregon,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,USA
Tags: 1940s, 1945, january 5, robert folks
Recent Comments