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James
Larry UPTON
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Robbery
- Hitchhiking
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
September 10,
1954
Date of birth: 1934
Victim profile: Donald Dilley
(airman)
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Status:
Executed by
electrocution in New Mexico on February 24,
1956
Feb. 24, 1956: James Larry Upton
was convicted of murdering a man who had given him a ride
hitchhiking. According to newspaper accounts, several spectators at
his electrocution were drunk and rowdy.
James Larry Upton
Over one hundred observers,
some intoxicated, attended the spectacle made of James Upton’s death.
Having been seated in the electric chair, Upton was asked if he had
anything to say. He inquired if his face would be covered by a mask.
The warden responded affirmatively, and Upton replied that he had
nothing to say.
The regular execution cap would
not fit, so an improvised cap made from a parka was used. Consequently,
smoke billowed from fur remaining on the cap that was ignited from the
ensuing voltage.
James Upton was declared dead at
12:09 AM, on February 12, 1956. Upton’s execution would be the last
death sentence implemented in New Mexico by the electric chair; the gas
chamber was subsequently used in the next execution.
Upton had been convicted in the September 10,
1954, murder of Airman Donald Dilley. Dilley had picked up the
hitchhiking Upton in Texas, and subsequently shot him outside of
Albuquerque in a robbery attempt.
He stated that he had seen Dilley’s large money
roll, and that he was "annoyed" by Dilley’s tough guy demeanor and tales
of air force jets.
There were a number of ninth inning attempts to
save Upton’s life, including a sanity hearing before the New Mexico
Supreme Court 15 hours before the scheduled execution; and a telegram
sent by Upton's mother to the Court of Appeals in Denver approximately
12 hours prior to the scheduled execution.
In the aforementioned hearing, testimony by
Upton’s psychiatrist Rudolph Kieve was submitted, stating that in his
opinion Upton was insane, the affliction being caused by an alleged
attack of encephalitis lethargica while Upton was young.
Prosecution noted that the psychiatrist’s
testimony was markedly different than that rendered just 3 days prior in
federal court, wherein he had not opined that Upton was insane. (Kieve
was also reported in the media as having staunch anti-capital punishment
views.)
The State Supreme Court found Upton sane, and the
Federal Court of Appeals declined to intervene. Upton was baptized a
Catholic the afternoon prior to his execution.
