Gruesome Gertie

Gruesome Gertie: The nickname given to the torturous electric chair used at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for state-sanctioned murder (death penalty executions).

Originally, Gruesome Gertie travelled from parish to parish as needed for executions. In 1946, Willie Francis, an African American adolescent, was sentenced to death for the murder of Andrew Thomas. Willie was 15 at the time of the alleged crime. He was 16 at the time of the trial. His court appointed defense attorneys put up no defense.

On May 3rd, 1946, Francis was strapped into Gruesome Gertie for his execution. Bystanders could hear him yell Take it off! as the electricity surged through him. Ultimately Gruesome Gertie only tortured and maimed him as the execution failed.

It was later determined that the drunk prison guard who set up Gruesome Gertie for the execution hadn’t done it right.

After the horror of the situation was revealed, a young attorney, Bertrand DeBlanc, took on Francis’ case, which eventually reached the Supreme Court in Francis v. Resweber.

The Court rejected the appeal. Francis was again strapped into the chair on May 9, 1947, and he was successfully murdered by the State. He was 18.

Ernest Gaines’ 1993 novel A Lesson Before Dying is based on Willie Francis. He is also the subject of the 2006 documentary, Willie Francis Must Die Again, by Allan Durand.