Allen Lee Davis (July 20, 1944 – July 8, 1999) was an American murderer who was executed for the 1982 murder of Nancy Weiler, who was three months pregnant, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. According to reports, Nancy Weiler was "beaten almost beyond recognition" by Davis with a .357 Magnum, and hit more than 25 times in the face and head. He was additionally convicted of killing Nancy Weiler's two daughters, Kristina, age 9, who was shot twice in the face, and Katherine, age 5, who was shot as she tried to run away and then had her skull beaten in with the gun. Davis, who had a lengthy criminal history, was on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

at the time of the murders. He later admitted that his initial motive was to rape and murder Kristina, kill Katherine and Nancy, and then ransack the house. Davis was executed on July 8, 1999, via

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

. His execution was alleged to have been botched, with witnesses reporting that Davis was still alive after the power to Old Sparky was switched off. Blood had also leaked from Davis's nose during the execution although prison officials alleged this was caused by a nose bleed. Because of the controversy surrounding his execution, Davis remains the last person executed by electric chair in Florida. All subsequent executions in Florida have been carried out by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

, albeit inmates can still choose to be executed by electric chair.

Early life

Davis was born in Millinocket, Maine. He came born into a poor and uneducated family and came from an abusive home. According to Davis's brother, his uncle reportedly molested him as a child, and later went to prison for molesting another child. Davis himself said he had been repeatedly molested by relatives of his stepfather.

Earlier crimes

While at a hospital in Maryland in the 1960s, Davis admitted to molesting a number of young children. As a juvenile, he was charged with fondling an 11-year-old girl and sent to the State Reformatory for Men in Maine. Davis's manslaughter stemmed from a car accident that occurred on April 21, 1965. He was put in a hospital for a month with serious injuries. Two of his friends who were in the car with him died in the accident. After Allen said that he had taken a shot for weight control and had drunk several beers prior to the accident, he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The case was heard in federal court since the accident occurred on federal property. Davis was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. He served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

. He began his sentence on January 13, 1967. Described as a model inmate, he was paroled on November 12, 1968. In 1973, Allen was arrested for armed robbery, attempted robbery, and use of a firearm. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and released after serving eight years of his sentence. Nancy Weiler's husband, John Weiler, would later describe Davis as a "deviant animal that should have been permanently caged or executed many years before May 1982."

Execution

Last meal

For his

last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States Contrary to the common belief t ...

, Davis requested and received a dinner consisting of one lobster tail, fried potatoes, a half pound of fried shrimp, six ounces of fried clams, half a loaf of garlic bread, and of A&W Root Beer.

Electrical parameters

According to the licensed electrical engineer who managed the equipment, the amount of electrical

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

applied to Davis in three steps was: # 1,500 Volts, 10 Amperes, 150 Ohms, for 8 seconds (

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

= 15.0 kilowatts (kW), energy = 120

kilojoule The joule ( , or ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). In terms of SI base units, one joule corresponds to one kilogram- metre squared per second squared One joule is equal to the amount of work don ...

s (kJ)) # 600 Volts, 4.5 Amperes, 133 Ohms, for 22 seconds (power = 2.7 kW, energy = 59.4 kJ) # 1,500 Volts, 10 Amperes, 150 Ohms, for 8 seconds (power = 15.0 kW, energy = 120 kJ) The maximum power was 15.0 kW, which is approximately equal to 11.2

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

. For comparison, the maximum output of a standard U.S. 15 Ampere

electrical outlet AC power plugs and sockets connect devices to mains electricity to supply them with electrical power. A plug is the connector attached to an electrically operated device, often via a cable. A socket (also known as a receptacle or outlet) is fi ...

is 1.8 kW or 1.3 horsepower. The total energy used was 299.4 kJ or 284

British thermal unit The British thermal unit (Btu) is a measure of heat, which is a form of energy. It was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. It is also part of the United Stat ...

s (BTU), over a period of 38 seconds. A BTU is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...

. Davis weighed 350 pounds. 284 BTUs are the amount of heat needed to raise 350 pounds of water 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit. An average male body contains about 58±8% water.

Controversy

Davis's execution gained nationwide

media attention In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subje ...

after he bled profusely from the nose while being electrocuted. Also during his time in the

electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...

, Davis suffered burns to his head, leg, and groin area. A subsequent investigation concluded that Davis had begun bleeding before any electricity was applied. He had been taking blood thinning medication for an unrelated health problem. It was concluded that the electric chair had functioned as designed, and the Florida Supreme Court upheld electrocution as a means of capital punishment. However, a dissenting justice published photos of the aftermath of the incident in an attempt to argue that the practice of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

by electrocution was outdated, and that any future executions should be carried out through

. In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition from Thomas Harrison Provenzano, another

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

inmate, arguing that the electric chair was a "

cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisdi ...

", with Davis' execution cited as an example of an inhumane death. , Davis was the last Florida inmate executed by electric chair. Since the 2000 execution of Terry Melvin Sims, all subsequent executions were by lethal injection, and lethal injection is Florida's primary method of execution. However, inmates may still choose electrocution. , only Wayne C. Doty has opted for death by electrocution; Doty is still alive, and his execution date has yet to be set.

References

! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in Florida , - ! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in the United States

External links

DC.State.fl.us
Inmate Release Information Detail - Inmate 040174. ''

Florida Department of Corrections The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the government agency responsible for operating state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in the state capital of Tallahassee. The Florida Department of Corrections oper ...

''. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
DC.State.fl.us
August 3, 1999 Order Upholding Constitutionality of the Electric Chair. ''

'' (1999-08-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-29. {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Allen Lee 1944 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American murderers 20th-century executions by Florida 1982 murders in the United States American male criminals American murderers of children American people convicted of manslaughter American people convicted of robbery American people executed for murder 20th-century executions of American people Executed people from Maine People convicted of murder by Florida People executed by Florida by electric chair People from Millinocket, Maine Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Male murderers Violence against women in Florida