- Rattlesnake James
Raymond Lisenba (1895 –
May 9 ,1942 ), also known as Rattlesnake James, was the last man to be executed byhanging inCalifornia .James worked as a
barber in the area of present dayLa Cañada Flintridge, California in the 1930s. His wife in those years was a manicurist named Mary Busch. In 1935, James purchased a life insurance policy on his wife. A few months later, James purchasedrattlesnake s, which were used in an unsuccessful attempt to murder his wife. Hours later, Mary was found dead by drowning.Investigators discovered that James had been married previously and that one of his prior wives had died under similar circumstances.
On
May 9 ,1942 , Rattlesnake James was executed by hanging atSan Quentin State Prison in California. The rope was the wrong length and it took over ten minutes for Rattlesnake James to die.ee also
*
Capital punishment in California
*Capital punishment in the United States
* "Lisenba v. People of State of California "ee also
* "People v. Lisenba" (1939) 14 Cal 2d 403 [http://online.ceb.com/calcases/C2/14C2d403.htm]
* "Lisenba v. People of State of California" (1941) ussc|314|219|Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com
* [http://www.prairiepublic.org/programs/datebook/bydate/05/0305/032205.jsp Prarie Public Television biography]
*Brenner, Anita [http://www.anitabrenner.com/11242005.HTM "La Cañada's First U.S. Supreme Court Case"]
*Brenner, Anita [http://www.anitabrenner.com/RATTLE3.HTM "Warden Hears James' Death Rattle"]
*Duffy, Clinton "Eighty Eight Men and Two Wo"men (1988) ISBN 0-404-62412-X
*Nash, Jay "Bloodletters and Badmen"(1995) ISBN 0-87131-777-X
* [http://markgribben.com/?p=146 Love Bites] from the Malefactor's Register
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