Execution
Eve
Also by William J. Buchanan
Nonfiction
A Shining Season
Attack of the Midnight Screamer
And Other True Stories
Running Toward the Light
Fiction
Present Danger
One Last Time
Execution
Eve
William J. Buchanan
New Horizon Press
Far Hills, New Jersey
Copyright Acknowledgment
The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission to quote from the following copyrighted material:
“To Kill or Not to Kill” by Allan Trout. Copyright © The Courier-Journal. Used with permission.
Copyright © 1993 by William J. Buchanan
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, including electronic, mechanical, or any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission should be addressed to:
New Horizon Press
P.O. Box 669
Far Hills, NJ 07931
Buchanan, William J.
Execution Eve
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-60568
ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-0-88282-458-1
New Horizon Press
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
17 16 15 14 13 6 7 8 9 10
Dedicated to the memory of my father
Contents
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
About the Author
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to my father, Warden W. Jesse Buchanan, who made his personal papers available to me and answered myriad questions with candor; to Governor A. B. “Happy” Chandler, Deputy Warden Porter Lady, Death House Supervisor John Rankin and Columnist Allan Trout who added invaluable details during my research; to my mother, Margaret Kagy Buchanan, and sister, Margaret Baldwin Clements, for their contributions about Frog Island, and other key events; to Father Thomas Libs, who related events not a matter of public or church records; and to the three convicted murderers, Thomas Penney, Raymond Baxter, and Robert Anderson, who shared intensely personal recollections and thoughts with me during the final days, hours and minutes of their lives.
Thanks also to Clara Wiedemann, Frances Baccus, O. Thomas Bell, William Biggs, A. Waller Clements, Hugh and Mary Louise Greene, Porter Lady, Jr., James Park, Jr., Frankie Thomas, Jim Thomas, Odell Walker, and others who wish to remain anonymous, for their help during my more recent research for the book.
Finally, a special thanks to my wife, Milli, for her encouragement and priceless assistance during the final composition of the manuscript.
Author’s Note
My original research into this story was for a segment for my college thesis, Men Facing Death: A Study of Capital Punishment in America (University of Louisville, 1950). It was only recently, following an upsurge of legal executions in the United States, that I decided to expand those original notes into a book.
Much of what occurs in the narrative to follow I witnessed firsthand. The remainder is based on public accounts, trial records, private papers, and incidents that were related to me by those involved, including the three condemned men central to the story. In attempting to recreate actual events and dialogue I have used a reasonable literary licence within narrow confines of truth and credibility. Nonetheless, all scenes are recounted as closely as possible to how I witnessed them or how they were told to me.
Oh, how well do I remember the night Poor Willie died,
The flowers lay lowly drooping in the mud,
And the warden had agreed that to suit Poor Willie’s need,
He would stop the circulation of his blood.
—Underground ditty,
Kentucky State Prison
Execution
Eve
Raymond S. “Willie” Baxter lay clutching his blue woolen blanket close beneath his chin, gazing up through the barred window high in the rear wall of his cell. For twelve months that tiny window had provided Willie’s only view of the outside world. Through it he had watched the seasons