John Arthur Bennett
April 10, 1935 – April 13, 1961
Place of birth Virginia
Place of death Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Allegiance United States
Service/branch Army
Rank Private First Class

John Arthur Bennett (April 10, 1935 – April 13, 1961) was a Private First Class in the United States Army who was convicted and executed for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl.[1] Bennett was the last person to be executed by the U.S. Military as of October 2008,[2] though President George W. Bush has since confirmed the death sentence of former Army Specialist Ronald A. Gray, a serial killer scheduled to die by lethal injection on December 10, 2008.[3]

Bennett was born in Virginia to a family of African American sharecroppers. He was epileptic, but managed to enlist in the Army when he was 18.[1] Days before Christmas 1954,[4] a heavily intoxicated Bennett left his base to find a brothel, but chanced upon a young Austrian girl.[1] He raped her, and then attempted to drown her in a nearby stream.[1] He was convicted by a court-martial one month later and sentenced to death.[1] President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Bennett's death warrant.[4] Days before Bennett's scheduled execution four years later, the girl and her parents wrote to President John F. Kennedy, asking that Bennett's life be spared. Kennedy took no action on the appeals.[1] Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Richard A. Serrano (1994-07-12). "Last Soldier to Die at Leavenworth Hanged in an April Storm", Los Angeles Times, p. 14. Retrieved on 1 October 2008. 
  2. ^ Bill Mears (2008-10-01). "Court: Ban on execution of child rapists stands". CNN.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-01. "The last execution by the U.S. military for any crime was in 1961, when Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping an 11-year-old girl, according to Pentagon records."
  3. ^ Barbara Barrett (2008-07-28). "Bush approves execution of soldier, first in 50 years". McClatchy. Retrieved on 2008-10-01. "Bush signed off on the death penalty for Ronald A. Gray, who grew up in the Liberty City area of Miami and was stationed at Fort Bragg at the time of the crimes."
  4. ^ a b "Private was hanged in 1961 for raping girl]". The Times (April 30, 2005). "Days before Christmas 1954, and very drunk, Bennett crossed a field searching for a brothel outside his army base. Instead he came to a group of private homes before finding an 11-year-old local girl, who was returning home from Christmas shopping."

External links

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Bennett"


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