Billy Bailey (1946 – January 25, 1996) was an American convicted murderer who was hanged in Delaware in 1996. He became the third person to be hanged in the United States since 1965 (the previous two were Charles Rodman Campbell and Westley Allan Dodd, both in Washington), and the first person hanged in Delaware in 50 years. As of 2026, he remains the last person to be lawfully executed by hanging in the United States.

Early life

The nineteenth of 23 children, Bailey was born in stark poverty in South Carolina and suffered chronic physical abuse, state records show. His mother, Mazzie Miller Bailey, died when he was six months old and his father died when he was six. From the age of six to fourteen, Bailey lived in various foster homes. Bailey was later described as a long-time alcoholic with a "very, very violent, quick temper."<blockquote>"If he wanted something, and if he wasn't going to get it right away, he'd explode."</blockquote>When Bailey's daughter was three or four months old, she was burned badly in an accidental fire and had to have her hand amputated. His drinking problem worsened after his in-laws blamed him for the fire. He had a criminal history dating back to 1967, when he was arrested for disorderly conduct after running down the street with a rifle. Bailey was later arrested on a charge of grand larceny in connection to a theft. In 1968, he was arrested a third time for burglarizing a home near Dover, Delaware. In 1974, he was arrested for stealing $1,500 worth of tools from a Dover industrial plant and sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled in 1977, but was arrested for violating his parole in January 1979. He received an 18-month sentence for forgery. In August 1978, Bailey threatened to kill his wife, daughter, mother-in-law, and father-in law after his wife left him and refused to let him contact their daughter. He later appeared 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.<blockquote>"He tried to stab himself with a steak knife and cut my hand without meaning to when I was struggling with him for the knife."</blockquote>He and Charles Coker, his foster sister's husband, went on an errand in Coker's truck. Bailey asked Coker to stop at a liquor store. Bailey entered the store and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. When the cashier, Reba Lovegrove, refused to cooperate, Bailey knocked her down and jammed the cash register while trying to open it. He then tried to shoot and kill Lovegrove, but the gun "clicked", either having jammed or run out of ammunition.

Conviction

At Bailey's trial, his lawyer argued that he had acted under extreme emotional distress and should be found guilty of manslaughter instead of first degree murder. She pointed to Bailey's upbringing, his worsening drinking problems stemmed from recent events involving his family, and the state seeking to sentence him as a habitual offender. Ferman Franklin, an alcoholism counselor whom Bailey had visited on an outpatient basis, testified that Bailey was impulsive and emotionally unstable. Two psychiatrists summoned by the state testified that Bailey was neither psychotic nor mentally ill.

In 1980, Bailey was convicted of first degree murder, first degree robbery possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. Finding that his crimes "were outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman", the jury fixed his sentence as death for the murder convictions. Bailey was sentenced to death by hanging. Bailey refused to accept lethal injection, telling a visitor, "I'm not going to let them put me to sleep."<blockquote>"Go ahead and hang me. You ain't putting me down like a dog. I was sentenced to hang so hang me."</blockquote>A few days before his scheduled execution, the Delaware Board of Pardons refused to recommend clemency for Bailey. His attorney and sisters had pleaded for clemency, citing his upbringing.

As Delaware had not carried out a hanging in 50 years, state officials sought advice from corrections officials at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington, where hangings had recently been performed. The wooden gallows were built on the grounds of the Delaware Correctional Center at Smyrna in 1986. The structure required renovation and strengthening before Bailey could be executed on it. The platform housing the trap door was from the ground and accessed by 23 steps.

Delaware used an execution protocol written by Fred Leuchter. Leuchter's protocol specified the use of of diameter Manila hemp rope, boiled to take out stretch and any tendency to coil. The length of the rope sliding inside the knot was lubricated with melted paraffin wax, to allow it to slide freely. A black hood was specified by the protocol, as was a sandbag to test the trap door and a "collapse board" to which a prisoner could be strapped if necessary.

The day before, Bailey was weighed at , and the drop was determined to be around .

See also

  • Capital punishment in Delaware
  • Capital punishment in the United States
  • List of people executed in Delaware
  • List of people executed in the United States in 1996

References

  • CNN article on Bailey's hanging