John McCaffary

John McCaffary (died 21 August 1851) was the first and last person executed by Wisconsin. He was executed by hanging for the murder of his wife.

On 23 July 1850, Bridgett McCaffary was drowned in a backyard cistern in Kenosha, a newly incorporated town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. John McCaffary, an immigrant farmer from Ireland, was arrested and charged with the first degree murder of his wife. His trial began on 6 May 1851, and on 23 May 1851 the jury convicted him of willful murder. The judge sentenced him to death by hanging.

McCaffary was hung on 21 August 1851 before a crowd of 2000 to 3000 people in front of the Kenosha courthouse and jail. After being hung, McCaffary remained alive and struggled on the end of the rope for approximately 20 minutes as he was slowly strangled. McCaffary was buried in the Green Ridge Cemetery in Kenosha. He was the first person executed by Wisconsin after it became a state of the United States in 1848.

The spectacle of McCaffary's slow death in front of thousands led reformers in Wisconsin to press for abolition of the death penalty. On 12 July 1853, Wisconsin Governor Leonard J. Farwell signed a law that abolished the death penalty in Wisconsin and replaced it with a penalty of life imprisonment. The law is still in effect and no one has been executed by Wisconsin since McCaffary's death.

ee also

*Capital punishment in Wisconsin
*List of most recent executions by jurisdiction

References

*Carrie Cropley, [http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wmh,19129 "The case of John McCaffary"] , "Wisconsin Magazine of History". vol. 35, no. 4 (1951–1952) pp. 281–288
*Martin Hintz (2007). "Got Murder?: Shocking True Stories of Wisconsins Notorious Killers" (Neenah, Wis.: Big Earth Publishing, ISBN 1931599963)
*Alexander T. Pendleton & Blaine R. Renfert, [http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Wisconsin_s_legal_history&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=35841 "A Brief History of Wisconsin's Death Penalty"] , "Wisconsin Lawyer", Aug. 1993