Old Idaho Penitentiary Executions

Executions at the Old Idaho Penitentiary Tour

• The tour involves a 30-minute presentation and a walking tour.
• Sensitive topics such as murder, suicide, and assault will be addressed.

Executions in Idaho

• Idaho has seen 29 executions: 26 hangings and 3 lethal injections.
• Before 1899, 16 legal executions occurred at the county level, all by hanging.
• The Idaho Territorial Prison/Idaho State Penitentiary held ten executions between 1878 and 1957.
• Crimes leading to execution are categorized under love, honor, money, and evil.
• Standard/Long Drop involves calculating rope length based on weight/height, with pre-stretched rope to avoid a "bungee cord" effect.
• The goal of a four to eight feet drop is to break the spinal cord using a noose placed to jerk the head back.
• This process causes immediate unconsciousness and death within 2-3 minutes.
• If the spinal cord doesn't break, it can lead to death by asphyxiation, or unintended decapitation if the rope is too long.

Ed Rice & 1899 Legislation

• The state of Idaho currently has eight men and one woman sentenced to death, predominantly for First Degree Murder.
• Hanging was the method of execution until the 1990s.
• From 1864 to 1901, executions were at the county level, conducted publicly by sheriffs with invitations.
• In 1899, Idaho legislation shifted executions to the state level at the Idaho State Penitentiary, starting in 1901.
• Edward Rice was the first executed under this legislation in 1900 for robbing and murdering Mat Mailey in Wallace, Idaho.
• Evidence of Rice's guilt included a handkerchief with "ED" found at the scene and testimonies of Rice paying gambling debts the day of the murder.
• After being brought to the Penitentiary, Rice attempted suicide.
• In 1901, Rice was executed after the change in regulations.
• His last words were "There is lots of time" and 23 witnesses were present at his veiled execution, and he was buried in the Prison Cemetery.

James Conners

• James Conners was executed for shooting and killing Deputy Sheriff E.P. Sweet and wounding another in Blackfoot in September 1904.
• Railroad employees witnessed the crime.
• The defense attempted to claim excessive inebriation, but this was unsuccessful.
• Conners refused a last glass of whiskey, saying, "I was a pretty good fellow when I was sober. Whiskey brought me to where I am, and I don't want any more of it."
• He refused a last meal but accepted a final pipe smoke.
• Only law officers attended his execution, which took about 30 minutes from his cell to death.

Fred Bond and Jennie Daly

• Jennie Daly married Charles Daly shortly after becoming his housekeeper; she was much younger than him and a widow.
• Their marriage was tumultuous, involving a fight where Charles pulled a gun on Jennie.
• The couple befriended Fred Bond in Boise.
• Charles paid Fred to take Jennie out because he lacked the stamina to keep up with his wife.
• Charles bought a house and invited Fred to live with them.
• Rumors circulated about Jennie and Fred's relationship.
• In 1904, Charles Daly was murdered.
• Fred reported the murder, and Jennie initially confessed but later recanted, accusing Fred.
• Jennie received 10 years for manslaughter; Fred was sentenced to death by hanging.
• Jennie predicted she would be released in just over six years, saying, “Making allowance for good behavior, I will only be in prison for 6 years and 3 months, and I will still be a young woman when I get out."
• Fred Bond was executed in 1906.
• His last meal included ham, fried eggs, toast, potatoes, sliced tomatoes, pie, and coffee.
• Fred was the first to be buried in his execution hood.
• Jennie showed no remorse and was released in just over six years, as she predicted.

John Snook

• At the Idaho State Penitentiary, wardens often served as executioners.
• John Snook was warden from 1909-1917 and 1924-1925.
• Snook served as executioner twice, for Fred Seward and Noah Arnold.
• Snook was born in Idaho but worked as a Deputy U.S. Marshall in Skagway, Alaska, where he assisted in several executions.
• Snook had a reputation as meticulous and detail-oriented.
• Warden Snook personally prepared the scaffold, pre-stretched the rope, and tested the trap door for the two executions.
• He asked the condemned for last words, then a black hood was placed, followed by the noose.
• Snook released the trap door after a nod from the assistant.

Fred Seward

• Seward was in a relationship with Clara O'Neil, a prostitute.
• Seward's attempt to marry Clara failed.
• Seward killed Clara and then shot himself in the head, but survived, leaving scars.
• Seward was hanged on May 7th, 1909, despite hoping for a reprieve.
• His last meal included mush and milk.
• Fifty witnesses were present at the veiled Gallows, and he was buried in his execution hood.

Clifford Zipse

• A reprieve involves canceling or postponing a death penalty.
• Clifford Zipse's story involves him nearly becoming Idaho's youngest condemned resident at 16.
• In 1940, Clifford shot and killed 15-year-old Wesley Curtis.
• Clifford claimed Wesley bullied him and caused problems with a teacher.
• The defense asked the jury to consider Clifford's young age and fragile mental state, without calling any witnesses.
• The Idaho State Governor received pleas to save Clifford after the jury recommended hanging.
• His sentence was commuted to life, and Zipse served just over 15 years after he was paroled.

Jack Davis or “Diamondfield Jack”

• Jack Davis, also known as "Diamondfield Jack," sought diamonds near Silver City.
• He was hired by a Cattle Company to intimidate sheepherders.
• Davis wounded sheepherder William Tolman in 1895.
• Fearing murder charges, Davis fled to Nevada and boasted about his prowess.
• In 1896, an Albion, Idaho, jury sentenced Davis to hang for the deaths of two sheep men, even though two other men confessed to the crimes.
• Davis received last-minute reprieves and spent nearly six years in jail awaiting appeal.
• Governor Frank Hunt pardoned him in 1902.
• Davis was killed by a taxi in Las Vegas in 1949.

Noah Arnold and Mike Donnely

• Noah Arnold and Mike Donnely murdered a storekeeper during a robbery in Hope, Idaho.
• A massive manhunt occurred.
• Sandpoint authorities used a mock lynching to get Arnold to give up Donnely’s location.
• Arnold was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to hang.
• The judge sentenced Donnely to life imprisonment.
• Arnold admitted to murdering five other men, though he maintained his innocence in this case.
• Arnold was executed on a cold night in December 1924.
• His last meal was ham, two fried eggs, soup, pudding, toast, and coffee.
• Arnold's last words were, "Do a good job of it because I don't want to strangle."
• The water mechanism used to flip the trap door had frozen, so guards poured water onto the frozen block instead.
• A small group conducted a funeral for Arnold at his graveside in the prison cemetery.

Troy Powell and Ernest Walrath

• Troy Powell was 21, and Ernest Walrath was 20, possibly the youngest to be hanged in Idaho.
• In 1950, the two Boiseans tried to rob 65-year-old Newton Wilson.
• The location was two houses down from Powell's.
• Wilson knew Powell and thought well of him.
• Both men had been incarcerated before turning 18.
• The pair robbed Wilson's home on May 8, 1950, initially only using the phone before returning later that night to use the phone again.
• Walrath hit Wilson with a pistol.
• Powell hit him with a sock filled with rocks.
• Walrath punched Nelson unconscious, which caused severe injuries including a broken nose, broken jaw, and a fractured skull.
• Powell found $12.50 in the store.
• Walrath stabbed Wilson in the back.
• Both went home, showered, changed, drove around with their girlfriends drinking beer, and got rid of their clothes.
• The next day, a store clerk and customer found Wilson's body.
• Walrath's girlfriend informed police.
• Powell confessed first, then Walrath.
• The judge was unsympathetic and set an execution date of August 2, 1950.
• While in solitary, Walrath wrote angry poetry, and appeals were denied.
• The executions were set for Friday, April 13, 1951.
• A scaffold was set up behind the 2-yard gate, now the Idaho Botanical Gardens, out of sight of the other prisoners.
• Both men chose the same last meal.
• Walrath was executed first, then Powell.
• Both are buried in Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.

Lyda Southard

• Idaho has not executed a woman.
• The Old Idaho Penitentiary never held a woman on death row; the current woman on death row in Idaho is Robin Lee Row.
• Executions are reserved for first-degree murder.
• Lyda Southard is an example of leniency, as most women were charged with this level of murder.
• Lyda married in 1912, and tragedy struck when her husband, daughter, and brother-in-law all died in 1915.
• Lyda remarried three times within six years, with each husband dying sooner than the last.
• After her husband's death, Lyda moved to California.
• The Twin Falls sheriff found it odd that Lyda had so much bad luck and discovered that she had collected $10,000 from her late husbands.
• After adjusting to modern currency, this is about $176,000.
• Her husbands' bodies contained traces of arsenic, with one having enough to kill five men.
• Lyda likely used arsenic from fly paper to poison them.
• Suspicious white rings were found around her pots, pans, and bowls.
• Lyda was labelled a femme fatale.
• Her new husband stood by her, even taking out a $10,000 life insurance policy.
• She was found guilty, charged with second-degree murder, and sentenced to ten years with a maximum sentence of life in 1921.
• After ten years of good behavior, Lyda got more privileges, tended the roses, and escaped by having a male trustee build her a rose lattice, which she used as a ladder.
• After 13 months, she was brought back to the Penitentiary, where she served out the rest of her sentence.
• She was not given any additional time, and, after another 10 years, she was pardoned with rules; she move in with her sister, and she could not tell her story for fame for at least six months.
• Her story gained national attention under 20 years following the deaths of six individuals at 51 years old.

Tambiago- Territorial Cornerstone

• Tambiago was the first and only Native American (Bannock tribe) executed at the Idaho Territorial Prison.
• He lived on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation near Pocatello.
• Conflicts between Native Americans and white travelers grew starting in the 1850s, escalating when travelers settled there.
• The territorial governor created a reservation in 1868, enforced by President Grant.
• The reservation couldn't support its 1200 residents.
• On August 8, 1877, No Ho Wah attacked two white men who sexually assaulted his sister.
• When No Ho Wah surrendered on August 23, 1877, Tambiago decided to seek revenge.
• Tambiago shot Alex Rhoden and fled.
• US soldiers captured Tambiago on January 19, 1878, and returned him to Fort Hall, then transferred him to Malad for a federal trial.
• The trial began and ended on May 28, with Tambiago refusing to participate; he was issued the death penalty the following day.
• Tambiago was sent to the Idaho Territorial Prison, with an execution date of June 28, 1878.
• A crowd of 250 people watched in heavy rain.
• Tambiago resisted the execution and his hood.
• Army General George Crook said, "Our treatment of the Indian is an outrage."

Samuel Ridgeway- Front of Territorial

• In 1882, Samuel Ridgeway and Curley Sherwood fought while drinking.
• The next day, Samuel refused to drink with Curley.
• Samuel's abstinence made Curley angrier and more insistent.
• Samuel relented, and the fight continued.
• Samuel shot Curley twice, killing him.
• The state found Samuel guilty of murder; Judge Prickett sentenced him to death.
• Outraged community members petitioned the governor to commute his sentence.
• The judge set Samuel's execution date, and the Governor postponed it.
• The governor wrote another letter for further postponement, but it arrived late.
• Guards prepared Samuel for the execution, and the Governor stopped it.
• Samuel's sentence was changed to life in prison.
• Due to good behavior, the pardon board pardoned Samuel after three years.

John Jurko- Rose Garden

• John Jurko was born in Ohio to Bohemian parents.
• His family moved back to Bohemia, where Jurko married Theresa at 34.
• In 1914, the couple moved to Twin Falls.
• Jurko spoke limited English, and Theresa's English was even poorer.
• Jurko, a barber, owned a barbershop.
• In 1923, B.W. Vandenmark and Jurko became friends and business partners at the Cozy Billiard Parlor, living in apartments above it.
• Theresa was isolated, and within weeks, Vandenmark made advances, telling her to leave Jurko.
• Jurko and Vandenmark began to argue.
• Vandenmark tried to dissolve the partnership and offered men money to kill Jurko.
• On June 25, 1924, Theresa told Jurko about Vandenmark's advances and offers.
• Jurko confronted Vandenmark, who denied the accusations and gestured for Jurko to leave.
• Jurko pulled out the gun and shot Vandenmark six times.
• Jurko turned himself in to the police.
• In 1924, Jurko was convicted of First Degree Murder, and his defense brought appeals, asserting, following being kicked in the head by a mule, he was "not in his right mind”.
• The night before his execution, Jurko said, "This crime I did was pushed on me. This man broke my heart. I lost my head and killed him. For this, I must die."
• Jurko ate his last meal, and he was denied a last-minute reprieve.
• As he approached the gallows, Jurko said, "No mercy, No justice! But I forgive everyone!"
• An autopsy revealed a skull fracture with inflammation of the brain tissue underneath, causing emotional and behavioral issues.

Douglas Van Vlack- 1890s

• Douglas Van Vlack kidnapped his estranged wife in 1936 from Tacoma, Washington.
• While on the run, Van Vlack murdered his wife, an Idaho State Trooper, and a Deputy sheriff in southern Idaho.
• He was quickly charged and convicted of murder in the 1st degree.
• On December 9, 1937, Douglas Van Vlack was scheduled to hang, with the execution to take place on makeshift gallows located in what is now the Shirt Factory.
• A guard witnessed his mother whisper something in his ear and slip him something during a final embrace.
• Van Vlack pulled himself to the top floor, and guards, Warden William Gess, and Van Vlack’s lawyer tried to coerce him down for thirty minutes.
• Van Vlack said his mother had told him he could choose how he died.
• Van Vlack jumped and landed on his head and left shoulder, coughing up blood and twitching.
• The Penitentiary Physician advised against continuing with the execution, deeming it too inhumane.
• Van Vlack was moved to a corner in the cellhouse, lived for four more hours, and an autopsy found a razor blade in his mouth.
• It's inferred that his mother slipped him the razor blade.
• His family sent his body back home to Tacoma, where he is buried.

Harry Orchard- 3 house

• Governor Frank Steunenberg was assassinated by a homemade bomb on December 30, 1905.
• Harry Orchard, or Albert E. Horsley, was quickly apprehended and put on trial in March 1908.
• Orchard pleaded guilty and was to be hanged, but his help convicting the "higher ups" earned him life imprisonment.
• Harry Orchard ran the shoe factory inside of 3 house, employing 25 men.
• Local Boiseans insisted on Harry tailoring the shoes to fit their feet.
• Orchard gained fame, and Ethel Barrymore visited the prison to meet him.
• Frank Steuenberg's widow had forgiven Orchard.
• Orchard claimed her forgiveness inspired him to convert to a religious conversion.
• Orchard wrote “The man that God made again" and suffered a stroke; he eventually died after serving 46 years in the Penitentiary.

Kenneth Hastings

• Kenneth Hastings and partners committed robberies in the northwest in the 1950s.
• Hasting and his posse attempted to rob the Hollywood Market on 8th street in September 1951.
• The grocer fought back with a meat cleaver.
• A woman wrote down the car's license number and called the police.
• Police caught him in Nampa.
• They were charged for First degree murder when the grocer died.
• Hasting and his partners were sentenced to death, but their sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1953.
• While incarcerated, Hasting attempted to dig an escape tunnel.
• Hasting stabbed the associate warden in a prison vehicle on the way back from the VA.
• There was a state-wide manhunt, and he was recaptured.
• Hastings claimed that he was being haunted by Ivan Baker and that drove him to attempt to escape.
• The warden administered a "truth serum," or Sodium Pentothal.
• The test confirmed Hasting's story; however, a body was not discovered.
• Hastings claimed Baker’s ghost stopped visiting.
• He was paroled after serving 10 years.
• Skeletal remains were discovered, and the FBI reported that they belonged to Ivan Baker.

Raymond Snowden

• Raymond Snowden had a history of alcoholism.
• In 1956, Snowden met Cora Dean at the Hi Ho Club in Garden City.
• Snowden was there to settle the score with his ex-wife initially.
• Snowden and Dean danced and then went to catch a cab.
• Snowden was reported to have said "got hot."
• He cut Dean's throat with a 2-inch pen knife.
• He dragged her body and mutilated and cannibalized her.
• Raymond disposed of the weapon and spent the rest of his night bowling.
• A young boy discovered Cora Dean.
• Raymond was charged and convicted of murder in the first degree.
• Raymond spent 13 months at the Penitentiary.
• During this time, he worked on crossword puzzles and got close with the Chaplain.
• He created his own puzzles.
• Snowden's execution was the first on the newly installed gallows.
• While practicing with the trapdoor, the first test shattered the glass between the witness room and the gallows.
• There was chicken wire during his execution.
• Both Raymond and Cora Dean's families did not witness the execution.
• For his final meal, Raymond requested Lobster but did not consume it.
• On October 18th, 1957, Raymond was brought to the gallows, the noose was placed around his neck, asked if he had any last words, and he said “I do, but I don’t know how to put them”
• He was declared dead at 12:20.