A poor teenager from Louisiana had few options when he was charged with the murder of a local, prominent pharmacist in St. Martinville in 1946.
In a town full of secrets, Willie Francis was the perfect scapegoat.
He couldn’t even afford the defense attorney who eventually took over his case and his dad paid with two sacks of potatoes.
Willie was convicted after a quick trial with little evidence, but executing him for the capital crime proved to be harder than finding him guilty of it.
No parish wanted to be known for housing the electric chair, so it travelled to wherever the convicted convict sentenced to die was located.
Willie was strapped to so-called “Gruesome Gertie” by an intoxicated guard and an even drunker trustee inmate who botched the execution and Willie survived being electrocuted - the first time.
The mistake opened the door for an appeal, but the same system that unfairly charged and convicted the teen was not quick to admit any mistakes.
Join us for more on this mis execution of justice in the next episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Twice Electrocuted, Once to Die: the trial and execution of Willie Francis.”
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