Edward Walton
Murderer
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- USA
- Location
- Ala bama /Ill inois /P ennsylvania /Ohio/W est V irginia , USA
- Date of birth
- ???
- Characteristics
- —
- Victim profile
- T wo men and three women, including his common-law wife
- Method of murder
- Shooting
- Date(s) of murder
- 1896 - 1908
- Years active
- 1896–1908
- Date of arrest
- —
- Status
-
Executed
Executed by hanging in West Virginia on July 17, 1908
Background
Edward Walton was a Georgia native. He spent most of his life on the road, drifting around the eastern half of the United States and living under a variety of pseudonyms.
Times were hard for Georgia blacks in the late 19th century, with Iynching mobs and Jim Crow legislation joining forces to create an atmosphere that smacked of slavery once removed. For Walton, freedom lay in travel, but he could not shake the private demons that pursued him on the road.
The offence
Walton killed at least five victims. The widely-scattered crimes would not be linked until the morning of his scheduled execution, when he signed a brief confession in the shadow of the gallows.
Walton’s first victim, an unknown man, was killed at Blossburg, Alabama, during 1896.
Eight years later, in Chicago, Walton shot and killed his “wife”—one Edith Hannah—but police paid scant attention to the case and had no real idea of his identity or whereabouts.
In 1906, Walton murdered a victim named Blue at Shippensville, Pennsylvania.
Walton later confessed to slaying a woman in Steubenville, Ohio, on November 16, 1907, though police had no apparent record of a body being found.
Walton’s final victim was a black woman named Beulah Martin. She was killed near Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1908.
Walton was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.
Trial
Walton penned a confession to his other crimes before mounting the scaffold.
Sentencing
Walton was sentenced to hang.
Outcome
Walton was executed by hanging in West Virginia on July 17, 1908. His confession was signed in the shadow of the gallows the morning of his scheduled execution.
Aftermath
Walton’s crimes had not been linked until the morning of his scheduled execution, when he signed a brief confession.
Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans SEX: M RACE: B TYPE: N MOTIVE: PC-nonspecific MO: Confessed slayer of two men and three women, including his common-law wife; no motive cited DISPOSITION: Hanged in W.Va. on one count, July 17, 1908. home last updates contact
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