When someone is executed, there are two things people almost always want to know: what was their last meal, and what were their final words.

Sometimes the condemned have no final words at all. Sometimes they give long speeches. Sometimes they put on a show of repentance, regret, and sorrow for what they’ve done.

And sometimes, very rarely, they say something that delivers a roundhouse kick straight to the face of justice.

Check out this book!

https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Based-Bloody-Breathitt-Story/dp/B0FLKDX2ZB

Sources:

The Courier Journal: 7/10/1938,

The Lexington Herald: 7/12/1938, 7/13/1938, 7/14/1938, 8/19/1938, 8/20/1938, 7/23/1939, 7/29/1939, 8/27/1939, 12/9/1939, 10/31/1940,

Lexington Herald-Leader: 7/15/1938, 7/30/1938, 8/18/1938, 8/19/1938, 4/25/1939, 7/21/1939, 7/26/1939, 10/31/1940

The Winchester Sun: 7/12/1938, 7/13/1938, 7/14/1938, 8/12/1938, 8/16/1938, 8/25/1938, 8/27/1938, 7/21/1939, 7/22/1939, 7/24/1939, 12/8/1939, 12/9/1939,

Hazard Herald: 7/14/1938, 7/21/1938, 7/28/1938, 8/18/1938, 8/25/1938, 9/1/1938, 4/27/1939, 6/22/1939, 7/20/1939

The Hazard Plaindealer: 7/20/1939,

The Arizona Republic 1/11/1985

Davis v Commonwealth 1939 https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914cc0dadd7b0493480746f

Shelton v Commonwealth 1939 https://www.studicata.com/summaries/court-of-appeals-of-kentucky/shelton-v-commonwealth-1939-lxwmpo/

Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83861423/abram_b-combs

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25040826/isaac-j-shelton

In the early 1980s, a man committed the unthinkable and set his life on a path to ruin. Years later, he claimed he had changed. But was he really reformed, or just manipulating the narrative?
Joining us is retired KSP Captain Jennifer Sandlin, with 23 years of experience in the Kentucky State Police and a graduate of the FBI National Academy, bringing real-world expertise and perspective to the story.

Check out Grit: Based on a Bloody Breathitt Story

Lexington Herald Leader: 1/18/80, 1/19/80, 1/23/80, 3/17/81, 3/24/81, 3/25/81, 3/27/81, 3/28/82, 3/29/81, 3/30/81, 4/21/81, 4/29/81, 4/27/92, 4/11/93, 1/12/95,1/22/96, 11/5/96, 12/18/96, 5/22/97, 6/2/97, 6/8/97, 6/10/97, 6/12/97, 6/13/97, 6/18/97, 6/20/97, 6/24/97, 6/25/97, 6/26/97, 6/28/97,7/1/97, 7/2/97

Courier Journal:1/19/80, 1/20/80, 3/26/81, 10/2/87, 10/3/87, 10/10/87, 10/12/87, 6/10/87, 2/17/84, 5/7/84, 6/29/84, 9/9/84, 9/25/85, 9/26/85, 5/19/87, 5/22/87, 6/10/87, 2/29/93, 4/6/93, 12/31/95, 5/5/97, 5/20/97, 5/31/97, 6/3/97, 6/5/97, 6/6/97, 6/11/97, 6/12/97, 6/18/97, 6/19/97, 6/21/97, 6/22/97, 6/24/97, 6/25/97, 6/26/97, 6/28/97, 6/29/97, 6/30/97

The Central Record:1/24/80, 2/7/80, 2/21/80, 5/15/81, 1/29/81, 2/5/81, 3/19/81, 3/24/81, 3/26/81, 4/2/81, 7/17/80,7/10/97

New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/02/us/execution-in-kentucky-is-state-s-first-since-1962.html

McQueen V Scroggy 1996: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/99/1302/639773/

McQueen V Commonwealth 1997

https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/1997/97-sc-507-mr-1.html

McQueen V Parker 1997

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ky-supreme-court/1215379.html

It Could Happen to You: The Harold McQueen Story parts 1 & 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrO9XLjOJtc

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_McQueen_Jr.

WHAS: https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/kentucky-has-not-executed-anyone-in-10-years-heres-why/417-616648716

Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30051641/harold-mcqueen

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/109148304/rebecca_bryan-o'hearn

Most people accused of a capital offense lawyer up and go silent. This is the story of a man accused of dumping his mistress in a Lexington, Kentucky pond...who just couldn’t stop talking to the press.

Check out Kentucky author Tashia L. Fugate!https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Aconite-Prophecy-Blood-Flowers/dp/1509258027#:~:text=Tashia%20L.%20Fugate%20lives%20in,of%20Blood%20and%20Flowers%20series.

Sources:

Lexington Herald Leader: 3/10/1903, 3/11/1903, 3/12/1903, 3/15/1903, 3/16/1903, 3/17/1903, 3/18/1903, 3/20/1903, 3/27/1903, 3/28/1903, 3/30/1903, 3/31/1903, 5/8/1903, 5/20/1903, 5/24/1903, 6/12/1903, 6/22/1903, 7/7/1903, 7/20/1903, 10/23/1903, 12/2/1903, 12/6/1903, 12/21/1903, 3/8/1904,3/9/1904,3/10/1904, 3/11/1904, 3/12/1904, 3/13/1904, 3/14/1904, 3/16/1904, 3/25/1904, 3/26/1904, 5/24/1904, 5/25/1904, 5/27/1904, 6/14/1904, 6/15/1904, 7/17/1904, 10/27/1904, 12/2/1904, 12/4/1904, 12/5/1904, 12/9/1904, 12/15/1904, 12/18/1904, 12/29/1904, 1/4/1905, 1/5/1905, 1/9/1905, 1/10/1905, 1/11/1905, 1/12/1905, 1/13/1905, 1/22/1905, 9/9/1914

The Lexington Herald: 3/3/1903, 3/12/1903, 3/13/1903, 3/14/1903, 3/15/1903, 3/17/1903, 3/18/1903, 3/29/1903, 4/1/1903, 4/2/1903, 4/3/1903, 4/5/1903, 4/7/1903, 4/10/1903, 5/20/1903, 5/21/1903, 5/24/1903, 5/25/1903, 5/27/2903, 5/29/1903, 6/9/1903, 6/23/1903, 6/25/1903, 6/29/1903, 7/8/1903, 7/21/1903, 7/24/1903, 3/1/1904, 3/9/1904, 3/15/1904, 3/16/1904, 3/20/1904, 5/8/1904, 5/24/1904, 7/17/04, 7/25/1904, 11/2/1904, 12/7/1904, 12/11/1904, 12/19/1904, 12/21/1904, 12/25/1904, 12/29/1904, 12/30/1904, 1/3/1905, 1/8/1905, 1/13/1905, 1/14/1905, 1/15/1905, 1/10/1914

The Kentucky Post: 3/11/1903

Courier Journal: 3/11/1903, 3/12/1903, 3/13/1903, 3/16/1903, 3/19/1903, 3/23/1903, 3/29/1903, 3/31/1903, 4/1/1903, 4/11/1903, 5/21/1903, 9/20/1903, 6/18/1904, 7/19/1904, 10/28/1904

Bess V Commonwealth 1903 https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/bess-v-commonwealth-902345880

Bess V commonwealth 1904 https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/bess-v-commonwealth-902342387

Find a grave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159409453/james_william-bess

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100748694/martha-martin

United States Census Records 1900, 1910, 1920, 1950

United States Vital Records Lexington Children’s Home School Records 1901-1902

In 1922, a man stood accused of a double murder in Breckenridge County. The press wasted no time branding him an escaped asylum patient from Alabama. But the real question lingers: was he legally insane, or did he know exactly what he was doing?Sources

The State Journal:2/14/1923, 8/17/1923, 3/19/1924

Messenger Inquirer: 2/13/1923

Owensboro Messenger: 12/9/22 , 6/15/1923,

The Kentucky Post: 6/18/1923, 5/9/1924

The Daily Independent: 4/4/1924

The Winchester Sun: 2/20/1924, 5/2/1924

The Breckenridge News: 4/23/1924

The Columbia News: 4/8/1924

The Courier Journal: 5/9/1924, 5/10/1924

The Lexington Herald Leader: 5/3/1924

A chilling story of teenagers who mistook fantasy for reality- with deadly consequences.

Check out a Kentucky author: Tashia L Fugate

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tashia-Fugate/author/B0DWXWZG51?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=dec2d282-1079-4a65-809e-ad64235b70a9

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553668877573

Sources:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Ferrell

Daily Commercial: https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/news/local/eustis/2019/12/01/mother-of-vampire-cult-killer-ive-changed/2178130007/

Orlando Sentienel On-Line https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2006/12/17/heather-wendorf-kelly-was-cleared-in-her-parents-1996-murder-in-eustis-now-married-and-living-out-of-state-she-reflects-on-a-tragic-time-2/

Ferell V FL 2000: https://library.law.fsu.edu/Digital-Collections/flsupct/dockets/93127/93127ans.pdf

Anderson V FL: 2003: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1260192.html

Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94130409/richard_james-wendorf ,https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94130515/naoma_ruth-wendorf

Orlando Sentinel 10/16/96, 11/3/96, 11/12/96, 11/26/96, 11/27/96, 11/29/96, 11/30/96, 12/1/96, 12/2/96, 12/3/96, 12/4/96, 12/6/96, 12/7/96, 12/8/96, 12/9/96, 12/10/96, 12/15/96, 12/17/96, 12/18/96, 12/19/96, 12/20/96, 12/21/96, 12/22/96, 12/24/96, 12/31/96

The Mayfield Messenger 10/16/96, 11/27/96

The Paducah Sun 11/3/96

Tampa Bay Times 11/27/96

When a murder happens, people instinctively search for answers. Why did it happen? And just as urgently, did the killer feel any remorse? Sometimes those questions are answered. Sometimes they’re only partially answered. And sometimes, they’re met with nothing at all.

In this episode from Evarts, Kentucky, the silence that followed a tragic murder was deafening.

Sources

Harlan Daily Enterprise: 5/10/1934, 5/11/1934, 5/22/1934, 11/14/1934, 11/15/1934, 12/26/1934, 12/27/1934, 12/30/1934, 1/2/1935, 1/13/1935, 1/14/1935, 1/15/1935, 1/16/1935, 1/17/1935, 1/21/1935, 4/2/1935, 4/19/1935, 4/21/1935, 5/27/1935, 6/23/1935, 6/26/1935, 6/27/2935, 6/28/2935, 6/30/1935,

The State Journal: 6/26/1935, 6/28/1935

Messenger Inquirer: 6/27/1935

Kentucky Advocate: 6/27/1935

The Courier Journal: 6/29/1935

Young V Commonwealth 1935 https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914a4e8add7b049346c1779

A single night in Harlan County led to a trial that moved with startling speed and left an entire community reeling. At the center of it all was an eleven-year-old witness asked to recount the unimaginable. This is a story of rejection, revenge, and the grim machinery of justice in early twentieth-century Kentucky.Sources

Harlan Daily Enterprise: 4/2/1926, 4/3/1926, 4/16/1926, 6/18/1926, 7/13/1928

Courier Journal 4/4/1926, 5/3/1926, 5/9/1927, 7/12/1928

Lexington Herald: 6/22/1926, 6/10/1928,

The Winchester Sun: 7/10/1928

The Public Ledger: 7/13/1928

The Paducah Evening Sun: 7/13/1928, 7/15/1928

The Owensboro Messenger: 7/13/1928

The Paintsville Herald: 7/19/1928

Find a grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197280593/hascue-dockery

Dockery V Commonwealth 1927

A marriage unravels, a lover snaps, and a quiet Pike County road becomes the scene of a tragedy that shook the holler. A story of jealousy, betrayal, and the deadly cost of wanting what isn’t yours.Sources:

Courier Journal: 9/29/1921, 11/23/1921, 11/27/1921

Lexington Herald Leader: 10/7/1921, 12/17/1921 6/6/1922, 7/28/1922, 8/28/1922, 9/17/1922, 9/25/1922, 11/15/1922, 11/17/1922, 12/17/22

The Mayfield Messenger: 11/197/1922

Park City Daily News: 11/16/1922

The Hazard Herald: 10/7/1921

The Big Sandy News: 11/17/1922

Brown V Commonwealth 1922