Joe Arridy had an IQ of 46 and is known as the "happiest prisoner on death row." He went into the gas chamber with a smile. It turned out he was innocent. Even though the actual murderer confessed that he acted alone. Dorothy's (victim) sister testified that the murderer was alone and had never had seen Joe before.
Interesting right?
Three psychiatrists ruled him so mentally retarded that he had a mind of a 6-year-old and couldn't tell right or wrong. Even the prison warden was convinced of his innocence. Yet they somehow found him sane, convicted, and executed him.
I think he could have acted so childishly, right? That is why many of them got confused. Even the officer asked him, "did he liked girls?" and he answered yes. Then the officer asked him, "if you like girls so well, why do you hurt them?". Arridy then replied, "I didn't mean to." The officer questioned him almost 8 hours over the next 2 days. He'd hit them on the head, taken his clothes off, assaulted Dorathy, dressed, and left.
It's really a deadly innocence.
He was also considered to be shy and likable. He was born in 1915. He walked away from the institution during the great depression and became a boxcar rider. Neighbors viewed him as a pariah. Other children targetted him for bullying. A district court judge then committed him to a " State home for mental defectives" where he lived during his teenage years. At age 22, he jumped on a railroad boxcar passing his institution. After that, most of his whereabouts remained unknown- until he was arrested for vagrancy and was coerced into confessing to a horrible rape and ax murder. The real perpetrator had been apprehended, and the weapon had been recovered in his home- but he refused to confess to the crime. Then a sheriff claimed that Arridy was with the killer. This "completed" the investigation. Both were convicted and sentenced to death.
On death row, Arridy received amazing amounts of understanding, support, and kindness from the warden, guards, and even death row, inmates. The warden repeatedly told, "Joe Arridy is the happiest man who ever lived on death row."
Arridy himself seems to have known he was there to die without really understanding what death actually was. No surprise considering he was a child in the man's body, but this didn't make the prison staff's job any easier. As time wore on and eventually ran out, their lives only became more difficult. To Arridy, the gas chamber was simply an object, and death was something he couldn't comprehend.
On January 6, 1939, Joe was given the last meal of his choice, a simple dish of ice-cream. On his way to the gas chamber, he gave away his toy train. Outside the chamber, Warden read the death warrant and asked him if he knew what was happening. Joe's response was both child-like and chilling:
"Yes, they are killing me."
It would be hard to argue with that. Joe Arridy is one of the few inmates on woodpecker Hill to have a proper tombstone. It bears his name, dates of birth and death, and a haunting message:
'Pardoned on Jan 7, 2011. Here lies an innocent man.'
You must be logged in to post a comment.