The 14-year-old was convicted of rape and murder. He was acquitted only after 70 years

A fourteen-year-old boy, who was sentenced to rubbish in the electric chair, was only cleared of the charges after 70 years. This was due to the disclosure of scandalous procedural irregularities. We recall the shocking story of George Stinney.

The murder of two girls

Two girls, 7-year-old Mary and 11-year-old Betty from Alcol in South Carolina, were brutally murdered on March 23, 1944. That day, they went on a bicycle ride to collect flowers for their teacher. They couldn’t find them for a long time. So they even went to another part of their hometown. When they met George and his sister Aime, they asked if the siblings had seen flowers anywhere nearby. When they answered no, they moved on. It was the last time the girls were seen alive.

The girls did not return to their homes that day. The parents started searching the same evening. Unfortunately, the next day fatal news reached them. The bodies of the girls were found in a ditch. It turned out that someone brutally beat them with a blunt and heavy object, crushing their skulls.

The suspicions fell on the aforementioned fourteen-year-old, whom the girls met during a bicycle ride. George Stinney was to be quit by Sadie Duke, a 17-year-old friend of the murdered girls. The girl testified that the boy disturbed them once in their play and made them bother when they approached the part of the city inhabited by the black community. Other white children gave similar testimony.

Investigators were not interested in the testimony of relatives. They did not even heed the words of the boy’s sister, who claimed that he was with her the whole time and that they did not stay with Mary and Betty even for a moment. George was surprisingly quickly charged with rape and murder. The boy probably pleaded guilty under pressure from investigators.

George was sentenced to death in the electric chair. Surprisingly, the defense did not appeal the verdict. The execution took place 83 days after his arrest – on June 16, 1944. According to the testimony of witnesses, the guards had a problem with fastening the boy with leather straps to the armchair designed for adults. Therefore, the 14-year-old had to sit down on the Bible he brought.

Not guilty after 70 years

In 2004, the historian George Fierson took up the matter. The scientist from Alcou studied all the available materials about the 14-year-old sentenced to death. He also managed to get two lawyers involved in the case. The team was quick to conclude that the trial from years ago was fictional. However, proving the boy’s innocence was not an easy task. Most of the witnesses were already dead by this time. And the only person she could endorse for George’s alibi was his sister. In 2013, lawyers contacted her, and the case was again publicized in the media. Thanks to this, other witnesses who remembered the events of 1944 began to report.

The testimony of the minister’s son who found the bodies of the girls turned out to be very important. Thanks to them, more irregularities came to light. Importantly, there was no blood on the bodies, which is surprising considering the fatal injuries. Therefore, the murderer had to bring the bodies from the crime scene to the ditch. And a small boy would not be able to do it himself. In addition, the figure of the owner of the sawmill in Alcou raised doubts. George Burke Sr. he led the search for the girls. Moreover, their bodies were found by his group on earth, which also belonged to him. The man also sat on a jury trial in 1944, which was against the procedural law as jurors must be impartial. Finally, on December 17, 2014, the conviction in the case of the 14-year-old was revoked.