5 Cases Where the Wrong Person Was Executed
5 Cases Where the Wrong Person Was Executed
They were convicted, sentenced, and executed — but later evidence proved they were innocent. These tragic cases reveal how flawed trials and bad forensics cost innocent lives. Read the full story and uncover the darkest mistakes of justice.
The death penalty has long been justified as the ultimate punishment for the most serious crimes. But history shows us a darker truth: innocent men and women have gone to the gallows, the chair, and the needle. These are five cases where the wrong person was executed — tragic stories that expose the fallibility of justice.
1. George Stinney Jr. (South Carolina, 1944)
The case in brief:
On March 23, 1944, in the segregated mill town of Alcolu, South Carolina, two white girls—Betty June Binnicker (11) and Mary Emma Thames (7)—were found murdered in a waterlogged ditch after going missing while picking flowers. Within hours, deputies focused on George Stinney Jr., a slight, 90-pound Black seventh-grader who lived nearby with his family. He and his older brother had briefly spoken with the girls earlier that day.
The interrogation:
Deputies took George away without his parents (who said they were not allowed to see him) and without an attorney. Authorities later claimed he confessed, but no written or signed confession survives; what prosecutors presented at trial was a second-hand account of what officers said the boy told them. There was no physical evidence tying him to the murders—no blood, fibers, or weapon recovered from him or his home.
The trial in detail:
• Date & duration: April 24, 1944; the entire trial lasted about two hours.
• Defense: A single court-appointed...Read More
