William Williams
William Williams was hanged in the basement of the Ramsey County Jail in St. Paul in February 1906. The St. Paul Daily News reported that the rope was cut too long, so his feet touched the floor. According to that account, deputies pulled on the rope to lift him and kept him hanging for nearly 15 minutes before a doctor pronounced him dead. The Duluth News Tribune, in a January 2020 article, describes the hanging as botched and as one factor in Minnesota's abolition of the death penalty in 1911. The article also calls Williams's execution the last in the state's history.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. The St. Paul Daily News reported that the rope was cut too long, so his feet touched the floor, and that deputies pulled on it for nearly 15 minutes before a doctor pronounced him dead, calling the hanging botched.
Reported by: St. Paul Daily News (reporters).