The unintended demise of Black Jack Ketchum

Richard Cooey of Ohio drew national attention when, just before his execution (see below), he argued that his obesity would make viable veins in his arms hard to find.

Cooey's lawyer said that the double murderer was 75 pounds heavier than when he went to death row because of prison food and inactivity. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed and the inmate, 267 pounds, was executed on Tuesday.

Obesity has been a point of contention before on the path from death row to execution chamber, or gallows.

We're not sure when it first became an issue, but the Cooey case reminds of an incident in the final days of the Old West.

Born Oct. 31, 1863, Thomas "Black Jack" Ketchum, a cowboy from San Saba County, Texas became a train robber and rode briefly with the Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang.

He was finally caught in 1899 following a botched train robbery in New Mexico. A gunshot wound to the arm resulted in it being amputated. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang at Clayton in northeastern New Mexico.

Ketchum (right) went to the gallows on April 26, 1901, cracking jokes with defiance.

His bravado was silenced, however, when the trap door swung open he was decapitated by the noose (below).

Some historians say this resulted from the executioners not knowing how to tie a hangman's knot. Others have said the rope was too long, or that it was still tied to a heavy sandbag that was used earlier to test the rope.

But another theory stated that Black Jack had put on a lot of weight while on death row, and the extra pounds helped gravity pull him down so fast that the rope severed his head.

Of course the incident has given rise to generations of kids in and around Clayton who have tried scaring each other with stories about the headless ghost of Black Jack Ketchum.

-- Bill Miller

Comments

[Daniel]

Bill, thanks for the story about Black Jack Ketchum as it gives me more proof of the accuracy of birth order characteristics. This is one of the best examples of the fact that the God of creation built into mankind birth order characteristics consistent over thousands of years. Black Jack was "cracking jokes of defiance" all the way to the gallows. That is so typical of last borns. Again, Bill, you've presented the world with one of the most obvious proofs for the fact of birth order as a predictor of how a person will act, react and live their life. The Bible follows this pattern throughout its entire history. How is that possible?

[Random Observer]

I love it when you click on an image and the popup that appears displays an even smaller version of the image you just clicked on.