Billy Bailey (1947? - January 25, 1996) was a convicted murderer hanged in 1996. He became the third person to be hanged in America since the resumption of executions in 1977 (the other two were Charles Campbell and Westley Allan Dodd both in Washington). He is the last person in the United States to be executed in this manner thus far. 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Hanging to Music. ... Charles Rodman Campbell (October 21, 1954 - May 27, 1994) was a convicted murderer who was executed in 1994. ... Westley Allan Dodd was a serial killer and child molester from Seattle, Washington. ... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,824 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ...

The crime

Bailey was assigned to the Plummer House, a work release facility in Wilmington, Delaware; however, Bailey escaped later appearing at the home of his foster sister, Sue Ann Coker, in Cheswold, Delaware, saying he was upset and was not going back to the Plummer House. Flag Seal Motto: A Place To Be Somebody Location Coordinates , Government County New Castle County incorporated 1739 Mayor James M. Baker (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 44. ... Cheswold is a town located in Kent County in the U.S. state of Delaware. ...

He and Charles Coker, his foster sister's husband, went on an errand in Coker's truck. Bailey asked Coker to stop at a package store. Bailey entered the store and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. Emerging from the store with a pistol in one hand and a bottle in the other Bailey told Coker that the police would be arriving and asked to be dropped at Lambertson's Corner, about one and one-half miles away.

At Lambertson's Corner Bailey entered the farmhouse of Gilbert Lambertson, aged 80, and his wife, Clara Lambertson, aged 73. Bailey shot Gilbert Lambertson twice in the chest with a pistol and once in the head with the Lambertsons' shotgun. He also shot Clara Lambertson once in the shoulder with the pistol and once in the abdomen and once in the neck with the shotgun. Both Lambertsons died. Bailey arranged their bodies in chairs and then fled from the scene. He was spotted by a Delaware State Police helicopter as he ran across the Lambertsons' field. He attempted to shoot the helicopter co-pilot with the pistol and was later arrested. DSP Patch based on the Delaware State Seal The Delaware State Police (DSP) is a division of the Delaware Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security and is responsible for traffic regulation and law enforcement across the state of Delaware, especially in areas underserved by local police departments. ...

Conviction

Bailey was found guilty of the murders in 1980. After his conviction the jury held that the crimes "were outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman" and recommended the death penalty. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the State as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offenses. ...

Preparations

Delaware had not carried out a hanging for 50 years so sought advice from corrections officials at Walla Walla State Penitentiary in Washington (the only other state that has carried out any hangings recently). Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area  Ranked 49th  - Total 2,491 sq mi (6,452 km²)  - Width 30 miles (48 km)  - Length 100 miles (161 km)  - % water 21. ... Suicide by hanging. ... Walla Walla can refer to: Walla Walla a Native American tribe after which the county and town of Walla Walla are named Walla Walla, Washington a town in the county of Walla Walla Walla Walla County, Washington a county in Washington State, U.S.A. This is a disambiguation page... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,824 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ...

The wooden gallows had been built in the grounds of the Delaware Correctional Center at Smyrna in 1986, as Bailey's first execution date approached. The structure required renovation and strengthening before Bailey could be executed on it. The platform housing the trap door is 15 feet from the ground and is accessed by 23 steps. These gallows in Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park are maintained by Arizona State Parks. ... For other meanings of Smyrna, see Smyrna (disambiguation). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Delaware used an execution protocol written by Fred Leuchter. This specifies the use of 30 feet of 3/4 inch diameter Manila hemp rope, boiled to take out stretch and any tendency to coil. The area of the rope sliding inside the knot was lubricated with melted paraffin wax to allow it to slide freely. A black hood is specified by the protocol, as is a sandbag to test the trap door and a "collapse board" to which a prisoner can be strapped if necessary. Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. ...

Bailey was moved from his prison cell to a caravan close to the gallows in preparation for the execution where he spent his last 24 hours sleeping, eating, watching television, talking with staff and meeting with his sister Betty Odom, 53, the prison chaplain, and his attorney.

For his last meal he had requested a well-done steak, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, buttered rolls, peas and vanilla ice cream.^{[citation needed]}

Execution

After his appeals failed Bailey was executed by the state of Delaware in 1996. He refused to exercise his option to choose lethal injection as a method of execution and was instead hanged. He became the third person to be hanged in the United States since the 1976 Supreme Court decision Gregg v. Georgia allowed executions, halted in 1967, to resume. Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area  Ranked 49th  - Total 2,491 sq mi (6,452 km²)  - Width 30 miles (48 km)  - Length 100 miles (161 km)  - % water 21. ... Lethal injection involves injecting a person with fatal doses of drugs to cause death. ... Hanging to Music. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Holding The imposition of the death penalty does not, automatically, violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment, lower courts judgement is affirmed. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

A few minutes before midnight Bailey was led into the yard which was surrounded by prison guards with dogs. His glasses had been removed. He was wearing a prison-issue blue denim coat draped over his shoulders, the top two buttons fastened to keep it from blowing off in the wind. His arms were fastened at his sides.

As is customary, a direct telephone line to the Governor of Delaware (then Thomas R. Carper) was kept open up to the last minute in case of clemency. List of Delaware Governors Governors of New Sweden, 1639-1655 Peter Minuit 1639-1640 Peter Hollandaer Ridder 1640-1643 Johan Björnsson Printz 1643-1653 Johan Papegoya 1653-1654 Johan Classon Rising 1654-1655 Part of New Netherland, 1655-1664 Part of New York, 1664-1682 Part of Pennsylvania, 1682... Thomas Richard Tom Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ...

Two guards wearing black jumpsuits and black hoods held in place by baseball caps, escorted Bailey who weighed 220 lbs. up the steps to the gallows' platform where he stood with the six coil noose swaying in the night breeze beside him until the forty or so witnesses had entered the compound.

He stood flanked by the guards for nearly five minutes. One faced forward holding Bailey's left arm. The other kept his back to witnesses and held the prisoner's shoulder. Warden Robert Snyder, who was to be the hangman, was standing further to the right. Hangman is a paper and pencil guessing game for two players. ...

When the witnesses were in position Bailey was led onto the trap, a nylon webbing strap was placed around his ankles and a black hood pulled down over his head and upper chest. The noose was placed over the hood. Several times Snyder felt at the hood to be certain that the knot was correctly positioned beneath Bailey's left ear.

Bailey stood calmly on the trap and was seen to squeeze his right fist into a tight ball. A moment later, at 12:04 a.m., Warden Snyder holding the gray wooden lever with both hands, released the trapdoor which opened with a loud bang. Five feet of manila rope followed Bailey through the hole and his body jerked to a halt ten feet above the ground. According to one witness it looked like a rag doll with the head over on side at a sharp angle. A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling (depending on what side of the door one is on). ...

Bailey's body spun counter-clockwise six times, then rotated once in the opposite direction. A canvas tarpaulin was now released to conceal the body, just his dangling feet in white tennis shoes remaining visible. A tennis net Tennis is a sport played between either two players (Singles) or two teams of two players (doubles). Players use a stringed racquet to strike a ball, a hollow rubber ball covered in felt, over a net into the opponents court. ...

He was pronounced dead eleven minutes later, at 12:15 a.m. EST (0515 GMT) by the doctor. OPD is an acronym for: Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy o-phenylenediamine Pico dos Dias Observatory This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

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Saxton Lambertson, one of the victims' sons, was present at the execution. Asked for his feelings, he stated that his parents "were very innocent people. They were old and small and he was a big brute. He chose to shoot them, so he chose to die."

Chris Lambertson, the victims' great-grandson, stated "Just because Billy Bailey wanted their truck, he killed my great-grandparents. Without a doubt, he should die."