MAN OFFERS TO GO TO ELECTRIC CHAIR IN PLACE OF CONDEMNED CRIMINAL
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On March 11, 1924, the Associated Press reports Walter J. Kirkwood of Philadelphia has offered to go to the electric chair in place of convicted murderer Joseph Trinkle. Mr. Kirkwood sent a letter to Governor Gifford Pinchot* expressing the view that Trinkle should serve ten to fifteen years in prison.
The Governor referred this "unusual request" to the board of pardons. The board ruled that there is no state law allowing the substitution of an innocent volunteer to take the place of a condemned criminal.
*Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) was born in Simsbury, Connecticut & educated at Yale University. GP served as Chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry 1905-1910 & Governor of Pennsylvania 1923-1927 & 1931-1935.
SOURCE
"Volunteers to Die In Electric Chair For Younger Man," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., March 11, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
