Daniel Wilkinson (murderer)
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Daniel Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1846 |
| Died | November 21, 1885 (aged 38) |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Convictions | First degree murder Burglary |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Daniel Wilkinson (1846 – November 21, 1885[1]) was the last person to be executed by Maine. He was hanged for the murder of a police officer after a burglary in Bath, Maine.
Early life
[edit]Wilkinson was born in England near London.[2] He came to the United States when he was 15. In 1866, he was sent to the Maine State Prison for burglary, and he was released from prison in 1872. he was sent to the Maine State prison for burglary, and completed his sentence in 1872. He has been reported as the son of an English clergyman, but this he denies, and says his parents are living, but that he has not heard from them for four years.[3]
Murder, trial, and execution
[edit]In the early morning hours of September 4, 1883, Wilkinson and his accomplice John Ewitt were caught attempting to break into the D.C. Gould Ship Chandlery and Provision Store in Bath. As Wilkinson and Ewitt were running away from one police officer, they collided with Constable William Lawrence. Wilkinson immediately shot Lawrence in the head with a .32 caliber revolver.
Wilkinson was arrested in Bangor, Maine less than a week after the incident and was charged with murder on September 11, 1883. It was discovered that Wilkinson was an escapee from the Maine State Prison. Ewitt had travelled to England; his extradition was never sought by Maine. Wilkinson's trial began in the Bath Superior Court on January 4, 1884. He was convicted by the jury of first degree murder on January 7, 1884, and sentenced to death by hanging.
The death sentence was carried out at the Maine State Prison in Thomaston on November 21, 1885. Wilkinson did not die instantly from the hanging but slowly died of strangulation. The nature of Wilkinson's death, which was similar to the executions of two other inmates the previous April, was used by anti-death penalty activists to argue that Maine should abolish the death penalty, which it did in 1887.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "City of Bath: "Fallen Officer"". Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ Bennett, Troy R. (2022-12-14). "Maine's final execution in 1885 didn't go so smoothly". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- ^ "Wilkinson: last person to be executed in Maine; the night before his death". The Portland Daily Press. 1885-11-20. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- Dick Dooley, series of articles in Rockland Courier-Gazette, 1974-08-15, 1974-08-22, 1974-08-29
- Edward Schriver, "Reluctant Hangman: The State of Maine and Capital Punishment, 1820-1887", New England Quarterly, vol. 63, no. 2 (Jun. 1990) pp. 271–287
External links
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- 1846 births
- 1885 deaths
- 19th-century executions by the United States
- British escapees
- British people convicted of burglary
- British people convicted of murdering police officers
- British people executed for murder
- British people executed in the United States
- Escapees from Maine detention
- People convicted of murder by Maine
- People executed by Maine by hanging
- People executed for murdering police officers
- People from Sagadahoc County, Maine
- Maine stubs
- American crime biography stubs