Will Lockett
Serial killer
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- USA
- Location
- Il linois /Ind iana /K entuck y , USA
- Date of birth
- 1896
- Age at first offence
- 16
- Characteristics
- rape
- Victim profile
- Three adult women and a 10-year-old girl
- Method of murder
- Strangulation / Beating
- Date(s) of murder
- 1912 - 1919
- Years active
- 1912–1919
- Date of arrest
- —
- Status
-
Executed
Executed by electrocution in Kentucky on March 11, 1920
Case record: Will Lockett
Name and aliases
Will Lockett was also known under an alias that eventually followed him to the electric chair. He was born Petrie Kimbrough.
Background
Lockett fled his native Kentucky after assaulting a white woman in Todd County during 1905.
He became the target of a lynch mob in Lexington, Kentucky. Rioting erupted after officers prevented lynchers from reaching Lockett on February 9, 1920, but he made it safely to the state prison at Eddyville.
The offence
Lockett was convicted fifteen years later in the beating death of a white child, 10-year-old Geneva Hardman.
On March 8, three days before his scheduled date with the electric chair, Lockett confessed to the murders of three adult women, plus several botched attempts. His confessed victims were described as:
- a white woman raped and strangled at Carmi, Illinois, during 1912 or '13
- a black woman dispatched in a similar fashion at Evansville, Indiana, in 1917
- "a woman of uncertain color," raped and strangled near Camp Zachary Taylor, outside Louisville, while Lockett was serving with the army in February 1919
Investigation and confirmation attempts
Authorities attempted to confirm the slayings, but they soon lost interest after Lockett's execution.
Arrest, custody, and prison transfer
After officers prevented lynchers from reaching Lockett on February 9, 1920, he made it safely to the state prison at Eddyville.
Timeline
- 1905 — Lockett fled Kentucky after assaulting a white woman in Todd County
- February 9, 1920 — Rioting erupted in Lexington after officers prevented lynchers from reaching Lockett; he reached the state prison at Eddyville
- February 1919 — Lockett was serving with the army near Camp Zachary Taylor, outside Louisville
- 1912 or '13 — A white woman was raped and strangled at Carmi, Illinois
- 1917 — A black woman was dispatched in a similar fashion at Evansville, Indiana
- March 8, 1920 — Lockett confessed to the murders of three adult women, plus several botched attempts
- March 11, 1920 — Lockett was executed by electrocution in Kentucky
Trial and conviction
Sentencing and execution
Lockett was executed in Kentucky on March 11, 1920.
Outcome
He was executed on March 11, 1920 after confessing on March 8, 1920 to the murders of three adult women and several botched attempts. Authorities attempted to confirm the slayings but soon lost interest after his execution.
Aftermath
Authorities lost interest after Lockett's execution.
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