Latest / 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories / George Stinney Jr

Transcript

George Stinney Jr · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

• 0:08
  Disprushing. Mister George Stenny Junior was born on October twenty first, nineteen twenty
• 0:41
  nine. He grew up in al Klou, South Carolina. His father,
• 0:45
  George Stenny Senior, worked at the local lumberyard in Sawmill. The sawmill brought
• 0:50
  a lot of life to the small town, employing many of its residents.
• 0:53
  The Stenny family even lived in a company owned house. Their house was small,
• 0:58
  with a chicken coop in the back room, enough for George, his
• 1:00
  parents, and his siblings. When George Stenny was fourteen, he was still
• 1:06
  pretty small. He was only five foot one inch and around ninety five pounds.
• 1:11
  He had a younger sister named Amy that he often referred to as his
• 1:14
  shadow. She followed him everywhere he went. On March twenty second, nineteen
• 1:19
  forty four, they were playing outside of the house when two little white girls
• 1:23
  riding their bikes stopped to talk to them. This was extremely unusual at the
• 1:30
  time. The town was still extremely segregated. The white and black families attended
• 1:34
  different churches, the children went to separate schools, and the railroad tracks divided
• 1:40
  their housing. The girls were looking for may Pops. It's a name they
• 1:44
  used in that area for passion flowers, and Stenny told them he didn't know
• 1:48
  where to look for the maypops, so the girls continued on their way.
• 1:52
  The next day, while his parents were away at work, two black cars
• 1:57
  rolled down the dusty driveway. Amy was scared and she hid in the chicken
• 2:01
  coop. George and his brother John were taken into custody and questioned for murder.
• 2:07
  Betty June Binnaker, age eleven, and Mary Emma Thames, aged seven,
• 2:14
  never made it home from their bike ride. Their bodies had been found
• 2:17
  on the black side of the train tracks, their heads beaten with a blunt
• 2:22
  object strong enough to crush their skulls, and the oldest had physical signs that
• 2:27
  she may have been raped. John was released, but George Stenney was charged
• 2:31
  with the crimes. One of the arresting officers claimed that Stenny gave a full
• 2:37
  confession and even told them where to look for the murder weapon. After a
• 2:42
  search of the area, they found a railroad spike. In just eighty one
• 2:46
  days, Stinney was dead too. The trial started and ended on April twenty
• 2:53
  fourth. Stenny's defense was made up of one court appointed council, Charles plowdhim
• 3:00
  X commissioner that was running for a local office. The prosecution called on three
• 3:05
  of the arresting officers, the reverend that discovered the girl's bodies, and the
• 3:08
  two doctors that performed the post mortem exams. Plowden didn't even cross examine the
• 3:15
  prosecution's witnesses, called in none of his own, did not challenge the prosecutor's
• 3:20
  recollection of events even though he told two different versions, and did not question
• 3:24
  why there was no record written or confirmed of the confession. He did nothing
• 3:30
  to defend George Stenney Junior. The entire proceeding lasted only two and a half
• 3:37
  hours. In less than ten minutes, the jury, which consisted of twelve
• 3:42
  white men, returned from deliberation with a verdict of guilty for the fourteen year
• 3:47
  old boy. Judge Philip Stole sentenced Stenny to death by electrocution. The crowd
• 3:54
  both in and around the courthouse seemed pretty pleased with the finding. There were
• 4:00
  over one thousand white men and women that showed up for the trial, even
• 4:03
  though the defendant was black. They did not allow black men or women in
• 4:08
  the court house. From the time Stenny was arrested. His parents were not
• 4:12
  allowed to see him until after the trial. He sat in the interrogation rooms
• 4:16
  alone, no parents and no counsel. He sat in jail awaiting the trial
• 4:23
  alone. His parents had not been allowed to visit or communicate with him at
• 4:27
  all. Stenny's father was fired from his job, and since they lived in
• 4:30
  a company owned house, they had to immediately move. They relocated closer to
• 4:35
  grandparents while they figured out what to do. They tried to find someone to
• 4:41
  help them appeal the ruling. Local churches and the NAACP appealed to Governor Olan
• 4:46
  Johnson to consider clemency considering the age of the boy. Ironically, most of
• 4:51
  the letters he received were from white women that didn't want to see someone so
• 4:56
  young executed. The governor visited Stenny to two days before his execution. The
• 5:01
  governor said that he wanted those begging for clemency to know that Stenny killed the
• 5:05
  smaller girl so that he could rape the bigger one, but then he killed
• 5:10
  the bigger one before raping her dead body. He even returned later with the
• 5:14
  intention of raping her again, but found the body was already too cold.
• 5:18
  He claimed Stenny admitted all of it. Of course, it was reported that
• 5:23
  all of those were rumors that the governor heard, and that it never came
• 5:26
  from Stenny directly. Steney told other inmates that he was coerced and maintained his
• 5:31
  innocence. On June sixteenth, nineteen forty four, at seven thirty a m.
• 5:39
  He was prepared for execution. His arms and legs and body were restrained
• 5:44
  to the chair. He was too short, so they placed a thick bible
• 5:47
  under him. When asked if he had any last words, he said no,
• 5:54
  sir. Then they placed the leather strap in his mouth, and he
• 5:57
  burst into tears. They placed him that seemed way too large on his head,
• 6:02
  and his sobs could be heard around the room. With the first flick
• 6:06
  of electricity, the mask shook off of his head, revealing the tear stained
• 6:11
  face of the young boy. It took three flips of the switch before he
• 6:15
  was pronounced dead. There was a witness from one of the victim's families and
• 6:20
  said that the event was not nearly so dramatic. He denied that they placed
• 6:26
  a bible under him or that the mask fell off as soon as the electricity
• 6:30
  was turned on. Exact records of the event cannot be found, so we
• 6:34
  can only go on what is recounted from those that were there. So why
• 6:40
  eighty years later is this case still being debated In case you haven't been able
• 6:45
  to tell so far in the story, very little has been actually agreed upon
• 6:49
  what occurred in nineteen forty four. In two thousand and four, George Friarson,
• 6:55
  a historian that grew up in al Kalou, started researching the case.
• 6:59
  It wasn't long before several pro bono lawyers got involved, and then they got
• 7:03
  more people to volunteer. They went through historical documents, found witnesses, and
• 7:09
  located evidence that they believe could exonerate Stenny. Although there was no transcript of
• 7:14
  the actual trial, a motion for a new trial was filed in twenty thirteen.
• 7:19
  In twenty fourteen, the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University
• 7:26
  filed an amicus brief with the court stating that the case was based exclusively on
• 7:30
  a confession that was not recorded or written, and taken without the consent of
• 7:34
  parents or presence of counsel. Rather than approving a new trial, the judge
• 7:41
  vacated the conviction. The overturning of the conviction did not mean that Stenny was
• 7:46
  innocent, but that he did not receive a fair trial and should not have
• 7:50
  been executed so quickly. The new ruling also caused a flood of responses.
• 7:57
  The Stenny family was thrilled. They always claimed that Stenny was innocent, that
• 8:01
  he was with the siblings when the murders occurred and he could not have done
• 8:05
  it. The Bickner and Thames families were disappointed. While they understood that he
• 8:11
  may not have received a fair trial, they felt as though he was being
• 8:13
  painted as a poor black boy that was unfairly charged with a crime, but
• 8:18
  in reality was undoubtedly guilty. The different opinions continued to be vocalized. There
• 8:24
  was an interview from Stinney's seventh grade teacher that was published in nineteen ninety five.
• 8:30
  They claimed he had threatened a girl at school the day the crime took
• 8:33
  place. Amy Stenny's sister contacted him and claimed that he told her it was
• 8:39
  not true, but he was paid to say that the teacher died shortly after,
• 8:43
  so neither side of the story could be confirmed. The reverend that found
• 8:48
  the bodies said that there was very little blood in the ditch, considering how
• 8:52
  badly the girls had been beaten. If they had been killed there, it
• 8:56
  seemed as though there would be a lot more blood if they had been killed
• 9:00
  somewhere else and then moved there. It didn't seem possible that such a small
• 9:03
  child could have picked them both up and carried them. There was a theory
• 9:09
  that the girls may have been killed by George Burke Junior. Stinny's mom worked
• 9:13
  for their family for a short time. They were a wealthy white family.
• 9:18
  She was uncomfortable with the advances of the father. When she told her husband
• 9:22
  about it, he told her not to return to work for that family.
• 9:24
  Missus Burke was angry over the whole event, maybe a little embarrassed, and
• 9:28
  the theory is that the boys hurt the girls and pinned it on George Stenney
• 9:33
  Junior to get even. Added to that, George Burke Senior owned the property
• 9:39
  where the girls were found and served as the foreman on the grand jury in
• 9:43
  Stinney's case. Supposedly a member of the family made a deathbed confession about the
• 9:48
  event, but once again there are no records and no one to confirm it.
• 9:52
  Now, Alcalou, South Carolina, seems like a forgotten town with a
• 9:56
  population of around four hundred people. Weeds have reclaimed, old buildings, and
• 10:01
  vacant stores line the streets, yet the memory of what happened is far from
• 10:07
  fading. Three memorial crosses are placed at the ditch where the girls were found,
• 10:13
  one for each young life lost after a tragic event. Sometimes it's not
• 10:18
  the truth that decides the outcome of a story. Sometimes the majority can be
• 10:22
  persuaded by which side is the most convincing. As the old saying goes,
• 10:28
  believe nothing you hear and half of what you see. That's ten minute Murder
• 10:50
  for today, brief and binge able true crime. I'm Joe, I'm the
• 10:54
  host, and I really appreciate you listening. If you're new to Ten Minute
• 10:58
  Murder, make sure you hit subscribe right now wherever you like to listen to
• 11:03
  podcasts, probably where you're listening right now, I'm gonna go out on a
• 11:07
  limb and assume that about it. Just hit subscribe and that will more easily
• 11:11
  help you catch up on all of the back episodes. Now, that is
• 11:13
  if you're a brand new listener. Now, if you're an OG listener,
• 11:16
  chances are you've already caught up on all the back episodes and If that's the
• 11:20
  case, make sure you are following ten Minute Murder on all places that the
• 11:24
  podcast has a presence on social media links from the show notes of the episode,
• 11:28
  or go to ten Minute Murder dot com and you'll find the links to
• 11:31
  all of that stuff. Now, we haven't done this in a while,
• 11:35
  but a quick listener email, Hi Joe, it's been ages since you gave
• 11:39
  a list of pet peeves or things bothering you right now, so do it
• 11:43
  please. I like your podcast, Nancy and North Kakilaki. And by the
• 11:48
  way she wrote North Kakilaki, I didn't just try to sound cool and say
• 11:50
  that what's bothering me right now? Man? I try to stay pretty positive,
• 11:56
  so it's difficult to come up with this on the spot. Whoever,
• 12:01
  stop saying that people rock, you rock. Nobody has rocked since like two
• 12:05
  thousand and four. We can stop saying that hit me up, knock it
• 12:09
  off. Don't say that anymore. And also, why are we doing shout
• 12:13
  outs still? We can mention something, but shout outs. I'd like for
• 12:18
  shout out the term shout out to just all together go away. I cringe
• 12:24
  a little bit every time someone says, let me give you a shout out.
• 12:26
  Now, it's different in different contexts. In different contexts which I'm not
• 12:30
  going to go into, like it's it's acceptable. But for most contexts,
• 12:33
  I don't want to be shouted out. I don't want to hear someone be
• 12:37
  shouted out. I don't know why that bothers me, and I understand that
• 12:41
  it's irrational, but I was asked the question by Nancy and North Cakilaki,
• 12:45
  so I feel like I'm compelled to answer. All Right, that's going to
• 12:48
  do it. That is the episode for today. Thank you so much for
• 12:52
  listening to the podcast, and I'll see you in the next one.