WEBVTT - 052524 Way Black History Fact - The Youngest Person Ever Executed in PA

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<v Speaker 1>All right, Next up, it's time for the Way Black

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<v Speaker 1>History Fact. In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>by Major Threads for innovative, fashionable sportswear. Check major threads

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. I'm gonna share a story with you from Wikipedia.

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<v Speaker 1>I believe it to be true of research to other sources,

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<v Speaker 1>but this is well written and I believe it's as

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<v Speaker 1>factual as is necessary. But so you know, it's from Wikipedia.

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<v Speaker 1>Alexandra McLay Williams July twenty third, nineteen fourteen to July

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<v Speaker 1>sorry to June eighth, nineteen thirty one was an African

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<v Speaker 1>American teenager wrongfully convicted and executed for the nineteen thirty

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<v Speaker 1>murder of thirty three year old Vita Robar, a matron

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<v Speaker 1>of the Glen Mills Reform School he attended in Pennsylvania.

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<v Speaker 1>Williams confessed to the murder, although he later recanted his confession.

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<v Speaker 1>The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wrongfully executed Williams for Robar's murder

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen thirty one, when he was sixteen years old,

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<v Speaker 1>making Williams the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania. Vita

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<v Speaker 1>Robar worked at the Glen Mills schools alongside Fred Robar,

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<v Speaker 1>an agriculture instructor who, according to contemporaneous news reports, was

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<v Speaker 1>her husband. Later researched by the grandson of Williams's attorney

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<v Speaker 1>revealed that the Robars were actually divorced before the killing

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<v Speaker 1>on the grounds of Fred Robar's extreme cruelty and domestic

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<v Speaker 1>abuse towards Vita, and from that, you're supposed to infer

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<v Speaker 1>that she comes from a violent home life with her husband,

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<v Speaker 1>and yet the sixteen year old is the person who

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<v Speaker 1>was executed. Earlier parts of Robar's killing claim that Fred,

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<v Speaker 1>misidentified as her husband, returned home from work on October third,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty and stumbled across the crime scene. He alerted

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<v Speaker 1>police afterwards, who arrived to find Robar lying in her bed,

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<v Speaker 1>partially clothed, with over thirty five dab wounds in her chest,

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<v Speaker 1>a fractured skull, and two broken ribs. There was a

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<v Speaker 1>man's bloody handprint on a nearby wall, as ostensibly belonging

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<v Speaker 1>to the killer. The handprint was photographed by the Pennsylvania

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<v Speaker 1>State Police and examined by two local fingerprint experts, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was never mentioned again either a trial or in

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<v Speaker 1>contemporary newspaper accounts, and it was never determined to belong

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<v Speaker 1>to Alexander McClay Williams. Three days after the murder, authorities

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<v Speaker 1>claimed that they had evidence linking Alexander Williams to Robar's murder.

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<v Speaker 1>They then announced that Williams had confessed to Robar's murder.

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<v Speaker 1>Authorities alleged that Williams confessed to fatally stabbing Robar with

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<v Speaker 1>an ice pick in spite of Robar's futally offering him

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<v Speaker 1>money to stop stabbing her. Initially, authorities claimed that Williams's

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<v Speaker 1>motive was revenge against Fred Robar for an unknown reason.

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<v Speaker 1>Authorities also posited that Williams murdered be to Robar because

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<v Speaker 1>she caught him in the act of stealing a box

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<v Speaker 1>of shoe polish from her house. However, days later, the

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<v Speaker 1>confess was amended to reflect that Williams allegedly murdered Robar

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<v Speaker 1>because she fought against a rape attempt. Overall, Williams was

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<v Speaker 1>interrogated five times, all without a parent or attorney president,

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<v Speaker 1>and signed three confessions. No eyewitnesses or direct evidence connected

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<v Speaker 1>Williams to the crime. At his trial, which took place

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<v Speaker 1>in early January nineteen thirty, one. Williams was represented by

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<v Speaker 1>William Ridley, the first black lawyer admitted to the bar

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<v Speaker 1>of Delaware County. Williams I'm sorry. Ridley was paid ten

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<v Speaker 1>dollars both to investigate evidence and defend Williams. He had

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<v Speaker 1>ten weeks to build his defense, and on June eighth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty one, Williams was executed in Pennsylvania's Electrictare. Reporters

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<v Speaker 1>stated that Williams was emotional, visibly shaking, and reliant on

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<v Speaker 1>the assistance of a deputy to walk to his death chamber.

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<v Speaker 1>And the reason I wanted to share this story is

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<v Speaker 1>because the family is just now bringing a lawsuit nearly

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred years after his death, because obviously he was

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<v Speaker 1>wrongfully convicted. He was forced by the police to confess

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<v Speaker 1>to a crime that he didn't commit, and everyone knew

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<v Speaker 1>that it was the husband or ex husband all along.