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Last Public Execution

NPR

Published April 29, 2001 at 9:00 PM PDT

Two witnesses of America's last public execution describe what they saw. These two men were among the 20,000 people who watched the hanging of convicted rapist Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1936. Tomorrow, Renee Montagne will explore why Bethea's hanging became America's last public execution to date.