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Execution of William Williams

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William Williams in the county jail, 1905

Photograph of William Williams. Photo taken by a St. Paul Dispatch photographer in the county jail on April 13, 1905. Image reproduced from microfilm at the Minnesota Historical Society with permission from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

On February 13, 1906, the state of Minnesota executed William Williams for murdering his lover. When his hanging went awry, newspapers broke state law to report the graphic story, and the botched execution caused renewed fervor against the death penalty. Williams was the last person legally executed by the state, and capital punishment was formally repealed in 1911.

On April 12, 1905, Williams argued with sixteen-year-old Johnny Keller and his mother, Mary, at their St. Paul home. Williams shot them during the exchange; Johnny died within twenty-four hours, and his mother died after eight days. Williams turned himself in to the police immediately and confessed to the crimes.

During the winter and spring of that year, stories of murder splashed across the front pages of St. Paul newspapers. The trials of the two most sensational murderers, Edward Gottschalk and Williams, even overlapped by a day. Gottschalk was notorious because of the gruesome way he killed his victims, and because he committed suicide before he could be executed by the state. Williams's murders were intriguing to readers because of his history with the victims.

Williams, a steamfitter from Cornwall, England, had met Johnny Keller in 1903, when they were both hospitalized for diphtheria. They quickly developed a romantic relationship. After they were released from the hospital, Keller joined Williams as he traveled across Minnesota and Manitoba, Canada looking for work.

Intimate relationships between male laborers, including men of different ages, were not unusual in the early twentieth century. But when Williams tried to bring Keller with him to Winnipeg for a third time, Keller's parents became upset and Keller returned home to St. Paul. Williams had gone to St. Paul to confront them, but he swore that he did not mean to kill Johnny.

Williams used "emotional insanity" as his defense, saying that alcohol and an argument made him temporarily insane. After hearing readings of his intimate letters with Johnny Keller, including one in which Williams threatened the boy, the court rejected this claim. The jury found Williams guilty of first degree murder, which meant that he would be executed.

Many Minnesotans were opposed to capital punishment at the turn of the twentieth century, but the state legislature was not able to repeal it. Governor John A. Johnson was against capital punishment but said he would enforce the law. Williams was set to be hanged on February 13, 1906. As required by the John Day Smith law, passed in 1889, his execution would happen in the middle of the night, with no journalists present.

The 1889 law, named after its sponsor, Representative John Day Smith, was passed because Minnesota had a long history of rowdy executions, including executions by lynch mobs that worked outside of the legal system. By suppressing information about executions, the Smith law was supposed to keep the public calm when executions occurred.

But when Williams's hanging was botched, the public did not stay calm. Ramsey County Sheriff Anton Miesen miscalculated how much rope was needed. The rope stretched, and Williams hit the floor of the courthouse basement without breaking his neck. Three deputies had to pull the rope up to strangle Williams. Fourteen and a half minutes later, Williams was pronounced dead.

Newspapers reported the event in spite of the Smith law. A reporter for the St. Paul Daily News sneaked into the execution and witnessed it firsthand. The botched hanging was gruesome, and the public was sympathetic to Williams. His story of love and heartbreak had been relatable, and he was brave in his final days.

The resulting outcry led to the end of the death penalty five years later. After Williams's execution, consecutive Governors Johnson and A. O. Eberhart chose to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment. Also during that time, public opinion shifted: Minnesotans saw the death penalty as cruel following the Williams' execution, and they began to see it as ineffective at deterring crime. In 1911, Representative George MacKenzie authored a bill, signed by Governor Eberhart, which abolished the penalty altogether. Although extra-legal lynchings continued to occur until 1920, there were no more legal executions in Minnesota.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
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Anderson, Michael. "Minnesota's John Day Smith Law and the Death Penalty Debate." Minnesota History 58, no.2 (2002): 84–91.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/58/v58i02p084-091.pdf

Bessler, John D. Legacy of Violence: Lynch Mobs and Executions in Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

Murphy, Ryan Patrick and Alex T. Urquhart. "Sexuality in the Headlines: Intimate Upheavals as Histories of the Twin Cities." In Queer Twin Cities: Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project, ed. Michael David Franklin, Larry Knopp, Kevin P. Murphy, Ryan Patrick Murphy, Jennifer L. Pierce, Jason Ruiz, and Alex T. Urquhart, 40-89. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Tice, D. J. "The Last Hanging: The Gottschalk and Williams Murder Cases, 1905." In Minnesota's Twentieth Century: Stories of Extraordinary Everyday People, 11–17. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.

Trenerry, Walter N. Murder in Minnesota, a Collection of True Cases. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1962.

Related Audio

MN90: William Williams and the End of Capital Punishment | Details

Related Images

William Williams in the county jail, 1905
William Williams in the county jail, 1905
Fragment of rope which formed part of the noose used to hang William Willams
Fragment of rope which formed part of the noose used to hang William Willams

Turning Point

On February 13, 1906, the rope used to hang William Williams is the wrong length, and he is choked to death for nearly fifteen minutes. The grisly experience leads Minnesota to eliminate the death penalty in 1911.

Chronology

1889

The Minnesota State Legislature passes the John Day Smith Law, requiring state executions to happen in the middle of the night and banning press coverage.

1890

The Smith law is challenged but upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1903

William Williams meets Johnny Keller in the hospital, and they develop a romantic relationship.

1904

Keller's family disapproves of his relationship with Williams; Keller travels with his older beau, but eventually returns home to St. Paul, Minnesota.

1905

In April, Williams fatally shoots Johnny Keller and his mother, Mary; in May, Williams is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for first-degree murder.

1906

On February 13, Williams is executed, but the rope used to hang him is too long. He is strangled by his executioners for nearly fifteen minutes, and newspapers break the law to report on the event.

1907

The Minnesota Supreme Court upholds convictions against St. Paul newspapers for breaking the Smith law when they reported on Williams's execution.

1911

Governor Adolph O. Eberhart signs a law abolishing the state death penalty on April 22.









  

Comments

I was superintendent of the old Ramsey County jail at 322 St. Peter st. in St. Paul, during the 1960's and 70's. The area where William Williams was hung was in the sub-basement of the jail that had been built 1900-1903. It was a historical spot, and Minnesota history buffs sometimes asked to see it.
During the Cold War this area was used to store civil defense supplies, and was to be used as a fallout shelter in case of war.
It was a really creepy place, dimly lit, dirt floor, old stone walls seeping with moisture.
The building was torn down in the end of the 70's. A newer part of the court house now covers the place of William's demise. I remember the history when I sometimes drive by.