Only 17 years old on May 3, 1946, the black teenager was preparing for his last moments on earth. Too frightened to be able to utter a final word, the boy simply clenched his fists and waited.
After suffering a painful experience of the wrongdoings of a drunken hangman, a miraculous survival story took place. He would then be executed for the second time as this case, which would be brought to the US Supreme Court, was unsuccessful.
Willie Francis was accused of murdering the pharmacist he worked for.
In November 1944, Andrew Thomas, with whom Francis was working, was shot by someone. The police began questioning Willie about the pharmacist’s murder and within minutes received a signed confession about the murder.
Since it is a known fact that the police received confessions through manipulation, threats or coercion, especially from disadvantaged groups in the society such as ‘black’, it was thought to be the same in this case, but the police denied the allegations of coercion. Still, some of the statements appeared to have been written at the dictates of the police officer.
Three weeks after his arrest, Francis found himself before a grand jury of white men.
He pleaded not guilty before the jury but was not taken seriously. And horribly, Francis’ lawyers did not even cross-examine the witnesses. Many mysteries surrounded the murder weapon. Francis allegedly stole the gun from the deputy sheriff, but the deputy said it was missing two months before the murder. Furthermore, the gun was not examined for fingerprints, the bullets found in Thomas’ body did not match those found in the gun, and the gun and bullets were lost before the trial en route to the FBI for analysis.
In fact, the gun linked the deputy sheriff to the murder. He had even threatened to kill the man he suspected of having an affair with his wife before. Also, the pharmacist’s neighbors said that the murdered man saw a headlight in the driveway on the night of the murder. The poor black teenager had no way of accessing a car, he couldn’t even drive. The medical officer also reported that Thomas was most likely killed by a professional who was experienced in the use of weapons. So even though all the evidence was in Francis’ favor, he was still the one to blame.
The day after Willie Francis’ eighteenth birthday, the electric chair was strapped to “Gruesome Gertie.”
He managed to survive because of the drunk and inept executioner. The death row boy said these words about what it felt like to be electrocuted: “Zsssst! It felt like hundreds of thousands of needles were pricked all over me, and my left leg felt like someone was cutting it with a razor blade. I could feel my arms jumping at my sides… For a moment I thought I was going to topple the chair… I guess I must have shouted them to stop. They say I said, “Take it off.”
After this failed execution, Willie was supposed to be executed again two weeks later, but instead, it made the news and his execution took place a year later.
His survival was seen by many as ‘an act of God’. Media coverage also unwittingly touched upon how African Americans are treated in the court system. Poor, black, and not yet an adult (like many inmates), Francis had little legal protection available to him.
On May 9, 1947, a little over a year after the first execution attempt, Francis was again bound to the electric chair. He was asked if he had any last words. “Nothing.” he replied. At 12:05 the key was pulled and five minutes later Francis was pronounced dead.
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