On July 13, 1865, Gabriel J. Forsee had slit the throat of 36-year-old Elizabeth Darwin at her home in Monroe County, Illinois. She had previously testified against him in court and on the night of the killing, she may have rejected his sexual advances. In response he killed her. The knife he used was described as "for the value of one dollar".
Gabriel did not realize that a little girl who occupied the same apartment as Elizabeth would have seen him. She woke up to voices and with the aid of a light she was able to see Gabriel. She testified against him in court and in September he was found guilty and had gotten the death penalty. After his conviction, his wife and kids didn't contact him.
On June 2, 1866, he was hung between the courthouse and jail in Waterloo.
SOURCES:
The Woodstock Sentinel June 7, 1866
Darwintern
The Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties Illinois page 158
Legal Executions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri page 3
No comments:
Post a Comment