Willie Francis, the youngest of 13 children in a poor black family living in Louisiana, was a teenager who supposedly murdered 53 year old pharmacist Andrew Thomas in St. Martinville, Louisiana in 1944.  One fact of the case that is indisputable was that Thomas was found dead, shot five times at close range just outside of his home, kicking off one of the more intriguing court cases of the mid-20th century on a number of levels. You see, a funny thing happened during Francis’ execution. When he was strapped to the electric chair, “Gruesome Gertie” and it was switched on… He didn’t die. In the aftermath of determining whether he’d fulfilled his sentence by this, it also came out that it sure did look like he also never actually committed the crime for which he was sentenced to death for. What followed was a year long battle for this young man’s life. Here now is the tale of Willie Francis, the teenager who was executed twice for a crime he most likely did not commit.

Author: Daven Hiskey
Host: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Caden Nielsen