Allen Lee Davis (July 20, 1944 – July 8, 1999) was an American murderer who was executed for the May 11, 1982, murder of Nancy Weiler, who was three months pregnant, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. According to reports, Nancy Weiler was "beaten almost beyond recognition" by Davis with a

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

, 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 or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

for

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

at the time of the murders. He later admitted that his initial motive was to rape and murder Kristina, kill her sister and mother, 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 solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

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

Earlier crimes

Davis had prior convictions for armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and involuntary manslaughter. He also had a history of child molestation. Nancy Weiler's husband, John Weiler, would later call Davis 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 In the United States, most states g ...

, 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 A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen – A&W root beer's official history and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W ...

Electrical parameters

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

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

applied to Davis in three steps was: # 1,500 Volts, 10 Amperes, 150 Ohms, for 8 seconds ( power = 15.0 kilowatts (kW), energy = 120

kilojoule The joule ( , ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to the amount of work done when a force of 1 newton displaces a mass through a distance of 1 metre in the direction of the force applie ...

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 th ...

. The maximum output of a standard U.S. 15 Ampere electrical outlet 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 or Btu) is a unit of heat; it is 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 States customary units. The modern SI ...

s (BTU), over a period of 38 seconds. A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), a unit of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile Symbols * Po ...

of water by one degree

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined h ...

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

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

, Davis suffered burns to his head, leg, and groin area. A subsequent investigation concluded that Davis had begun bleeding before the first jolt of 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, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

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 execution ( ...

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 jurisd ...

". As of 2021, 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. Inmates, however, may still choose electrocution. As of 2021, only Wayne C. Doty has opted for death by electrocution; he is still alive, and his execution date has yet to be set.

References

External links

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

Florida Department of Corrections The Florida Department of Corrections operates state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in Florida's capital of Tallahassee. The Florida Department of Corrections operates the third largest state prison system in th ...

''. 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 executions by Florida 1982 murders in the United States American murderers of children American robbers 20th-century executions of American people People convicted of murder by Florida People executed by Florida by electric chair Executed people from Florida American male criminals Male murderers Violence against women in the United States