The Execution Of Willie Francis

The Execution Of Willie Francis

Adult nonfiction
"Gruesome Gertie was the nickname the prisoners at Angola had
given the portable electric chair. What Ephie Foster delivered with
his truck was death. Or justice--it depended in whom you were asking...
Gertie's next guest was just across the cemetary, in the pure
white and stately New Iberia Courthouse that loomed to the East.
Foster knew he was in there. He knew that the boy--the one he called
'the nigger'--was up there in a cell above the courthouse, waiting for
dawn and probably not sleeping that well. Tomorrow, Foster told them,
we're going to fry a nigger. Show starts at noon."
A terrible crime had been committed in St. Martinville,
Louisiana in November 1949. The well known and liked white owner of a
pharmacy, Andrew Thomas, was discovered dead, riddled with bullets, in
his yard. Five shots had been fired at close range. Townspeople
became paralyzed with fear, afraid to go out at night.
There were plenty of rumors. A lifelong bachelor, Thomas had
been suspected of engaging in trysts with married women. Perhaps an
irate spouse had taken revenge.
The police chief and sheriff were not lucking out when it came
to clues. The murder weapon couldn't be found. There were no
fingerprints or eyewitnesses. Offers of reward money for information
produced no intelligence. It wasn't til nine months later that police
in Port Arthur, Texas arrested a black teen, Willie Francis, and found
him to have Thomas' wallet.
Willie's trial was a travesty. His court appointed lawyers
didn't lift a finger to defend him. All members of the jury charged
with determining his fate were white. The murder weapon and bullets
were missing. Not surprisingly, he was sentenced to death by
electrocution.
What was a big surprise was that Gruesome Gertie failed in her
mission. Willie was able to walk away from his execution. The powers
that be scheduled a second electrocution. Only before they could
carry it out a Cajun lawyer, Bertrand DeBlanc, intervened to try to
get Willie's sentence commuted to life in prison on constitutional
grounds. The case went as far as the United States Supreme Court.
In The Execution Of Willie Francis Gilbert King brings readers
the same balance of high drama and meticulous background research that
made his Devil In The Grove impossible to put down. History buffs and
civil rights advocates will find this fine book to be a must read.
On a personal note, Eugene installed the new washing machine Sunday
morning. After he went off on his motorcycle I tried it out. I was a
little spooked by the noises. At one point it sounded like it was in
labor and a couple of times it sounded about ready to blast off into
outer space. But it works perfectly. It has a sensor that determines
how much water to use and settings for everything from my delicates to
Eugene's work clothes. Little lights show what cycle it's in.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene for getting and installing
the machine.
jules hathaway



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