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Capital Punishment In Illinois
Capital punishment has been repealed in the U.S. state of Illinois since 2011. Illinois used death by hanging as a form of execution until 1928. The last person executed by this method was the public execution of Charles Birger the same year. After being struck down by ''Furman v. Georgia'' in 1972, capital punishment was reinstated in Illinois on July 1, 1974, but voided by the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1975. Illinois officially reinstated capital punishment on July 1, 1977. On September 8, 1983, the state adopted lethal injection as the default method of execution in Illinois, but the electric chair remained operational to replace lethal injection if needed. In 1994, the state executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy by lethal injection, who sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Cook County (a part of metropolitan Chicago). The last man executed in Illinois was Ripper Crew member Andrew Kokoraleis in 1999. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Charles Birger
Charles "Charlie" Birger (born Shachna Itzak Birger, February 5, 1881 – April 19, 1928) was an American bootlegger during the Prohibition period in southern Illinois. Early life Charles Birger was born to a Jewish family in the Russian Empire, and emigrated to the United States as a child with his parents. Birger and his family settled in St. Louis, where, aged eight, Charlie got a job as a news boy at the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' newspaper. Later, Birger moved to the O'Fallon, Missouri, area, where he started work in a pool room. On July 5, 1901, Birger enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to Company G of the newly formed 13th Cavalry Regiment, then stationed in South Dakota. Birger was described as a good soldier and was honorably discharged on July 4, 1904, at Fort Meade, South Dakota. When he left the army, he became a cowboy. However, he eventually returned to Illinois, where he met his first wife, Edna, to whom a daughter was born. Birger went on to m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |