This newspaper article on the history of the death penalty in Kansas appeared in the Topeka Capital on the day George York and James Latham were executed at the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing. York and Latham were sentenced to death for the killing of Otto Ziegler in Wallace, Kansas, though they had murdered at least six other people on route between Florida and Colorado. The article summarizes the many changes in Kansas capital punishment law. The article claims the "mobster era" of the 1930s was the primary motivation behind the legislature's reinstatement of the death penalty in 1935, after its initial repeal in 1907.
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: June 22, 1965
Item Number: 208831
Call Number: K/343.2/Clipp/Vol 1
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 208831
Business and Industry - Media/Communications - Newspaper - Topeka Daily Capital
Collections - Library
Date - 1960s - 1965
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Crimes - Murders
Government and Politics - Crime and Punishment - Punishment - Death penalty
Government and Politics - State Government - Legislature
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Newspaper - clipping
People - Criminals - George York
People - Criminals - James Latham
Places - Cities and towns - Lansing
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Cities and towns - Wallace
Places - Counties - Leavenworth
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Places - Counties - Wallace
Thematic Time Period - The Sixties and Vietnam, 1961-1975
Type of Material - Newspapers - Clippings
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/208831
