Ronald Wolfe (rapist)

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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[]

  1. ^ "Rape Where Victim Lived". Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  2. ^ Sherman, Mark (June 25, 2008). "Court bans death penalty for child rape". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Executions Other Than Murder or Rape Related". Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Missouri Executions". Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  5. ^ "High Court Delays Execution of Ronald Wolfe". The Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. February 16, 1961. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via news.google.com.
  6. ^ "Joint Appendix, Kennedy v. Louisiana (Case 07-343)" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
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