John McCaffary

Murderer

1known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: USA
Location: Kenosha County, Wisconsin, USA
Date of birth: ???
Characteristics: parricide
Victim profile: His wife, Bridgett McCaffary
Method of murder: Drowning
Date(s) of murder: July 23, 1850
Years active: 1850
Date of arrest: Same day
Status: Executed
Executed by hanging on August 21, 1851

Case Summary

Case record: John McCaffary

Background

John McCaffary died on August 21, 1851. He was the last defendant executed in the State of Wisconsin. He was executed by hanging for the murder of his wife. He was an immigrant farmer from Ireland.

McCaffary had been the first person executed by Wisconsin after it became a state of the United States in 1848.

The offence

Bridgett McCaffary was drowned in a backyard cistern. The drowning occurred on 23 July 1850 in Kenosha, a newly incorporated town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

McCaffary was charged with the first degree murder of his wife.

Investigation

McCaffary was arrested and charged with the first degree murder of his wife.

Arrest

Trial

McCaffary’s trial began on May 6, 1851.

On May 23, 1851, the jury convicted him of willful murder.

Sentencing

The judge sentenced McCaffary to death by hanging.

Outcome

McCaffary was hung from a tree on August 21, 1851.

The execution took place in front of the then Kenosha courthouse and jail before a crowd of 2000 to 3000 people.

The hanging was initially unsuccessful. McCaffary remained alive and struggled on the end of the rope for approximately 20 minutes as he was slowly strangled.

McCaffary was buried in the Green Ridge Cemetery in Kenosha.

Aftermath

The spectacle of McCaffary’s slow death in front of thousands led reformers in Wisconsin to press for abolition of the death penalty.

On July 12, 1853, Wisconsin Governor Leonard J. Farwell signed a law that abolished the death penalty in Wisconsin and replaced it with a penalty of life imprisonment. The law is still in effect, and no one has been executed by Wisconsin since McCaffary’s death.

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