William Williams

Background

William Williams was a Cornish immigrant who worked as a miner in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was a British itinerant miner and steamfitter. In 1904, Williams was hospitalized with diphtheria, and he befriended young Johnny Keller while both were hospitalized for diphtheria. After they met, Williams and Keller boarded together in St. Paul and took two trips to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada together. Their relationship developed into a close homosexual relationship.

Keller's father did not approve of the relationship and told his son he was no longer permitted to travel with Williams. Johnny Keller returned to live at his parents' house.

Williams sent Keller a number of letters expressing love for him and requesting that Keller join him in Winnipeg; the letters went unanswered at Mr. and Mrs. Keller's insistence. In 1905, Williams returned to Saint Paul in April 1905.

The offence

In April 1905, Williams returned to Saint Paul and, in a fit of rage, shot and killed Johnny Keller and his mother at their house.

Johnny Keller was killed instantly when he was shot in the back of the head in his bed. Johnny Keller's mother died from her injuries a week later. Johnny Keller's father was not at home at the time of the attack.

Investigation

Williams was arrested after the shooting.

Trial

Williams was tried for premeditated murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of “emotional insanity”.

Williams’s defence was rejected. On 19 May 1905, he was convicted of the murder of Johnny Keller. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Williams was convicted on two counts of premeditated murder, which was upheld on appeal.

Appeals

On 8 December 1905, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. One judge dissented in the judgment, arguing that Williams's crime bore the signs of a crime of passion and therefore may have not been premeditated.

Sentencing

Williams was sentenced to death by hanging.

Outcome

Williams was executed by hanging on 13 February 1906 in the basement of the Ramsey County Jail in Saint Paul. The rope was too long, and after Williams dropped through the trap door, he hit the floor. Three police officers were required to hold Williams up by the rope for over 14 minutes until he finally died of strangulation.

The death certificate stated that the cause of death was strangulation.

There was a botched execution: opponents of the death penalty in Minnesota used the “botched” execution to argue that capital punishment should be abolished in the state. After the execution, Minnesota abolished the death penalty in 1911 and it has never been reinstated.

A small item in the Wednesday Feb. 7, 1906 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune read: “Sheriff Miesen has arranged to test the rope and gallows upon which William Williams is to be executed next Tuesday at midnight.”

A lurid description in the next day’s issue of the St. Paul Daily News said that William’s “neck stretched four and one-half inches and the rope nearly eight inches.”

Aftermath

The debacle and newspaper coverage gave ammunition to opponents of the death penalty in the Minnesota state Legislature. House member George MacKenzie, R-Gaylord, had tried to abolish capital punishment in Minnesota in 1905 and again in 1909. He succeeded in 1911 when Republican Gov. Adolph Eberhart signed the legislation into law.