John Eldon Smith
John Eldon Smith, 53, was executed in the electric chair at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Butts County, on December 15, 1983, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. He was the first person put to death in Georgia after the state reinstated capital punishment in 1976, per the department and WSB-TV. A 2013 Business Insider account, citing a former death row guard, describes the execution as difficult and disturbing for staff, with many protests outside the prison. No source disputes the official account of the execution.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: Georgia Department of Corrections (the agency that held him). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.