Ronald Wolfe (rapist)
Ronald Wolfe was the last person executed in the United States for non-homicidal rape,[1][2] and second-to-last put to death for crime other than murder (the last was James Coburn, electrocuted in Alabama the same year for robbery).[3] He was also second-to-last person executed in Missouri before the U.S. moratorium on capital punishment.[4]
Wolfe, a 34-year-old man, was put to death in Missouri's gas chamber on May 8, 1964.[4] He was convicted of brutal attack of an 8-year-old girl on October 18, 1959 near Troy, Missouri, just 3 days after his release from the federal penitentiary in Georgia.[5]
Wolfe's case drew nationwide attention due to United States Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which banned death penalty for child rape, and was directly cited in court opinions.[6]
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19610216&id=OBMpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=729,3361384
- ^ Kennedy VS Louisiana Supreme Court Opinion and Dissent