Caryl Chessman
Caryl Chessman | |
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San Quentin State Prison |
Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted
While in prison, Chessman was considered
He was executed in California's gas chamber in 1960.
Early years
Chessman was born Carol Whittier Chessman (CAROL was, at the time, a popular name for boys of Danish descent; Chessman himself later changed the spelling to CARYL)[3] in St. Joseph, Michigan, the only child of Serl Whittier and Hallie Lillian (née Cottle) Chessman, both devout Baptists. In 1922, the family relocated to Glendale, California. Chessman's father became despondent after failing at each of a series of jobs, and attempted suicide twice. In 1929, Chessman's mother was paralyzed in a car accident.[4] As a child, Chessman had asthma, which left him weak, and he also contracted encephalitis, which he later claimed changed his personality. After recovering he began to rebel against his parents' strict Baptist upbringing by committing petty crimes.[5] The family was hit hard by the Depression, and Chessman later recalled that he stole food and other items as an adolescent to help his parents.[4]
In July 1937, Chessman was caught stealing a car and sent to
Crimes and conviction
In the first three weeks of January 1948, a number of robberies and thefts were reported throughout the
The following day, police in
Appeals and controversy
Part of the controversy surrounding the Chessman case stemmed from the state's unusual application of the death penalty. At the time, under California's version of the "Little Lindbergh Law," a crime that involved kidnapping with bodily harm could be considered a capital offense. Two of the counts against Chessman alleged that he dragged Johnson 22 feet from her car before demanding oral sex, and that he abducted Meza against her will, driving her a considerable distance before raping her.[13] The court ruled that both actions fit the law's definition of kidnapping with bodily harm, thus making Chessman subject to the death penalty under the law. The law was repealed by the time his trial began but was in effect at the time of the crimes; the repeal was not applied retroactively.[14]
Chessman asserted his innocence from the outset, arguing throughout the trial and the appeals process that he was alternately the victim of mistaken identity, or of a conspiracy to frame him; he also claimed to know the identity of the real perpetrator, but refused to reveal it. He further alleged that the confession he signed during his initial police interrogation was coerced through force and intimidation.[15]
Over the course of nearly twelve years on death row Chessman filed dozens of
Chessman also took his case to the public through letters, essays and books. His four books—
Chessman's books and public campaign ignited a worldwide movement to spare his life, while focusing attention on the larger question of the death penalty in the United States, at a time when most Western countries had abandoned it, or were in the process of doing so. The office of
The Chessman affair put Brown, an opponent of the death penalty, in a difficult position. He was unable to grant Chessman executive
Execution
Brown's stay of execution, along with Chessman's last appeals, ran out in April 1960, and Chessman finally went to the
Chessman was dubbed "the first modern American executed for a non-lethal kidnapping."[30] His time on death row – eleven years and ten months – was then the longest ever in the United States, a record that was broken in the post-Furman v. Georgia era on March 15, 1988, when Willie Darden Jr. was executed in Florida's electric chair for a 1973 murder.[31] Several months after Chessman's execution, Billy Wesley Monk was executed on November 21, 1960, for kidnapping two women, attempting to rape the first and raping the second, and was the last to be executed for a non-lethal kidnapping in the United States.[32][33] Further executions for non-lethal offenses, including robbery and rape, occurred as late as 1964, but have not been carried out since the 1960s.[clarification needed][34][35] Such convictions were also considerably focused on the Southern states, whereas the executions of Chessman, Monk and Rudolph Wright, gassed in 1962 for an assault (with deadly outcome, although without mens rea) possibly faced greater scrutiny for occurring in California.[36]
In popular culture
Megan Terry’s play, The People vs Ranchman, loosely based on Chessman’s crimes and punishment, was produced Off-Broadway in New York during the 1968–1969 season.[37]
Author Dominique Lapierre visited Chessman several times during his incarceration. Lapierre was then a young reporter working for a French newspaper. His account of Chessman appears in the book A Thousand Suns.[38]
Artist Bruce Conner created his sculpture Child in 1959–60 as an homage to Chessman.[39][40]
The radio version of Dragnet referenced the Chessman case and the Redlight Bandit in a 1949 episode. The producers changed the storyline of his crimes, allowing the rape victim to die in the fictitious version, justifying the death penalty.
Chessman's execution is referenced in
Chessman is mentioned in Neil Diamond's 1970 song "Done Too Soon" and in French singer Nicolas Peyrac's song "So far away from LA".
Chessman's execution in the gas chamber is mentioned in Richard Brautigan's 1967 novella Trout Fishing in America.[42]
In 1977, Alan Alda starred in an NBC television movie about Chessman's life, Kill Me If You Can. This was sometimes shown, subsequently, as The Caryl Chessman Story.[43]
The song "The Ballad of Caryl Chessman," written by the songwriting team of Al Hoffman and Dick Manning,[44] includes the chorus "let him live, let him live, let him live". It was a minor hit single for Ronnie Hawkins two months before Chessman's execution.[45]
Country music star Merle Haggard stated in an interview in 1995 that many years earlier, when he was a prison inmate, observing Chessman's preparations for his execution helped to set him on the straight and narrow.[46]
Chessman, a 2016 play by Joe Rodota, tells the story of the execution from the viewpoint of Governor Pat Brown.[47]
The song "Broadway Melody of 1974" by the rock group Genesis, off their album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, contains the lyrics: "The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand with the smell of peach blossoms and bitter almond." (Gas chamber reference) then: "Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade, he knows, in a scent, you can bottle all you made."[48] "Sniffs the air" likely refers to the execution method; also the singer Gabriel pronounces "in a scent" indistinguishable from "innocent".[49]
Mexican professional luchador, "Chessman, the red light killer," from AAA, is named after Chessman.[50]
A fictionalized version of Chessman appears in James Ellroy's 2021 novel Widespread Panic.[51]
Chessman is believed by the fictional serial killer Thomas Bishop to be his biological father in the 1979 novel, By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens.
References
- ^ "FindLaw's Supreme Court of California case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ Heggins Bryant, Nathaniel Zachery (2005). "WORKING INTHEBELLY OF THE BEAST: THE PRODUCTIVE INTELLECTUAL LABOR OF US PRISON WRITERS, 1929-2007" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2020.
- ^ Howard, C. The True Story of Caryl Chessman. The Crime Library. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-520-92523-8.
- ISBN 0-195-16897-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-416-55274-1.
- ^ Ulin, David L. (September 19, 2006). "Caryl Chessman's infamous death row case is revisited". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ^ a b James (2012), p. 187.
- ^ Hamm (2001), p. 4
- ^ a b James (2012), p. 188.
- ISSN 0024-3019.
- ^ "J. Miller Leavy, 89; Prosecuted Celebrated Cases". The New York Times. January 7, 1995. p. A25.
- ^ People v. Chessman, 38 Cal. 2d 166 (1951).
- ^ People v. Chessman, 52 Cal. 2d 467 (1959).
- ^ a b Chessman v. People, et al., 205 F.2d 128 (9th Cir. 1953).
- ^ Chessman v. Teets, 354 U.S. 156 (1957).
- ^ "Caryl Chessman". November 26, 2007.
- ^ Caryl Chessman, The Red-Light Bandit Archived May 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "California Constitution: Article 5". leginfo.ca.gov. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011.
- ^ "Caryl Chessman: Biography". biography.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
- ^ Obituary: R. Richard Rubottom, New York Times, December 20, 2010; accessed June 2, 2014.
- ^ "California's Catholic Browns". July 22, 2020.
- ^ "Chessman's Execution a 'Breath of Fresh Air,' Times Says (Clippings of 1960s coverage)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ The Encyclopedia of American Prisons by Carl Sifakis page 85; Retrieved January 22, 2016
- ^ Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty by Austin Sarat page 196 Retrieved January 19, 2016
- ^ Debates in Criminal Justice: Key Themes and Issues edited by Tom Ellis, Stephen P. Savage page 214 Retrieved January 19, 2016
- ISBN 978-1-556-52662-6.
- ISBN 978-0-307-80939-1.
- ^ "Ashes of Chessman Scattered At Sea". The Milwaukee Journal. March 11, 1974. p. 6. Retrieved December 22, 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ New York Daily News archive. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
- ^ Nordheimer, J. (March 13, 1988). Florida Inmate Faces His Seventh Date With Executioner. The New York Times
- ^ People v. Monk, 56 Cal. 2d. 288 (Cal. 2d July 20, 1961).
- ^ "Tragedy in Curtain Call for Sad Mother". Mirror News. April 27, 1960. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy". users.bestweb.net. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Coburn". Alabama Journal. June 8, 1964. p. 11.
- ^ "People v. Wright - 55 Cal.2d 560 - Mon, 03/20/1961 | California Supreme Court Resources".
- ^ Guernsey, Otis. Curtain Times; The New York Theater, 1965–1987. (1987) pp. 138–9.
- ^ Dominique Lapierre: Bestselling Writer Turns Philanthropist. cityofjoyaid.org archive Archived March 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Bruce Conner. CHILD. 1959–60 – MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art.
- ^ Art, Archives of American. "Oral history interview with Bruce Conner, 1974 March 29 - Oral Histories | Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
- ^ Stephen Thrower (2018). One on Top of the Other (Interview with Stephen Thrower) (Blu-ray Disc). Seattle: Mondo Macabro.
- OCLC 958962748, retrieved February 26, 2021
- ^ Morales, T. (January 4, 2005). Alan Alda Shows Off His Dark Side. CBS News archive. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
- ^ "Could be I love you (to the bank, to the bank, to the bank) English lyrics by Al Hoffman & Dick Manning, original Spanish lyric & music by Haroldo Barboza & Lucio Alves". www.copyrightencyclopedia.com.
- ^ It peaked at number 32 on the CHUM Chart in Toronto in March 1960. The CHUM Chart Book: 1957–1983, Ron Hall, p. 81.
- ^ "Fresh Air Remembers Country Music Legend Merle Haggard". NPR. April 8, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
- ^ Crowder, Marcus (October 17, 2016). "Life or death at B Street Theatre in 'Chessman'". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
- ^ "Lyrics to the Genesis song "Broadway Melody Of 1974"". Genius. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ SongMeanings. "Broadway Melody Of 1974 lyrics comment by monsterwax on 2019-11-04 04:32:41". SongMeanings. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ^ "AAA Bulletin - Chessman, the Red Light Killer, bathed in glory | Superfights". Superluchas | WWE, RAW, Lucha Libre, UFC y Box. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- OCLC 1245842550, retrieved June 20, 2021
External links
- Chessman-Asher Collection, 1921-1996 housed at the California State Library.
- Caryl Chessman online
- Newsreel footage about Caryl Chessman Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- An in depth article on Chessman
- FBI files on Chessman
- Chessman on Crime Library at the Wayback Machine (archived March 29, 2001)
- Kill Me If You Can at IMDb
- Cell 2455, Death Row at IMDb
- Cell 2455, Death Row at the TCM Movie Database