Ronald Wolfe (rapist)

Ronald Lee Wolfe (September 3, 1930 – May 8, 1964)[1] was the last person executed in the United States for non-homicidal rape,[2][3] and second-to-last put to death for crime other than murder (the last was James Coburn, electrocuted in Alabama the same year for robbery).[4] He was also second-to-last person executed in Missouri before the U.S. moratorium on capital punishment.[5]

Ronald Lee Wolfe
Born(1930-09-03)September 3, 1930
United States
DiedMay 8, 1964(1964-05-08) (aged 33)
Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by gas chamber
Other namesWard Jewel Hopkins
Albert John Strouse
Jewel Karvey Hopkins
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Rape
Criminal penaltyDeath

Early life

Wolfe's mother disappeared when he was two weeks old and his father disappeared when he was 6 years old.[6][7] He lived with his grandparents in his earlier years.[8]

Crime, trial, and execution

Wolfe, a 33-year-old man, was put to death in Missouri's gas chamber on May 8, 1964.[5] He was convicted of brutal attack of an 8-year-old girl on October 18, 1959, near Troy, Missouri, just three days after his release from the federal penitentiary in Georgia for a car theft charge.[9]

Wolfe's case drew nationwide attention once again in 2008 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana to ban the death penalty for child rape. The court directly cited Wolfe in court opinions.[10]

References
  1. "Ronald Lee Wolfe (1930-1964) - Find a Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  2. "Rape Where Victim Lived". Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  3. Sherman, Mark (June 25, 2008). "Court bans death penalty for child rape". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  4. "Executions Other Than Murder or Rape Related". Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  5. "Missouri Executions". Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  6. "Wolfe life". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 11, 1964. p. 31. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  7. "Wolfe life". Springfield Leader and Press. November 24, 1963. p. 38. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  8. "Wolfe life". Moberly Monitor-Index. May 7, 1964. p. 6. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  9. "High Court Delays Execution of Ronald Wolfe". The Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. February 16, 1961. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via news.google.com.
  10. "Joint Appendix, Kennedy v. Louisiana (Case 07-343)" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
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