May 25, 2024 • 4 mins
Our Way Black History Fact is dedicated to Alexander McClay Williams…the youngest person to ever be executed by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, Next up, it's time for the Way Black
History Fact. In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored
by Major Threads for innovative, fashionable sportswear. Check major threads
dot com. I'm gonna share a story with you from Wikipedia.
I believe it to be true of research to other sources,
but this is well written and I believe it's as
factual as is necessary. But so you know, it's from Wikipedia.
(00:24):
Alexandra McLay Williams July twenty third, nineteen fourteen to July
sorry to June eighth, nineteen thirty one was an African
American teenager wrongfully convicted and executed for the nineteen thirty
murder of thirty three year old Vita Robar, a matron
of the Glen Mills Reform School he attended in Pennsylvania.
Williams confessed to the murder, although he later recanted his confession.
(00:48):
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wrongfully executed Williams for Robar's murder
in nineteen thirty one, when he was sixteen years old,
making Williams the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania. Vita
Robar worked at the Glen Mills schools alongside Fred Robar,
(01:09):
an agriculture instructor who, according to contemporaneous news reports, was
her husband. Later researched by the grandson of Williams's attorney
revealed that the Robars were actually divorced before the killing
on the grounds of Fred Robar's extreme cruelty and domestic
abuse towards Vita, and from that, you're supposed to infer
(01:34):
that she comes from a violent home life with her husband,
and yet the sixteen year old is the person who
was executed. Earlier parts of Robar's killing claim that Fred,
misidentified as her husband, returned home from work on October third,
nineteen thirty and stumbled across the crime scene. He alerted
(01:54):
police afterwards, who arrived to find Robar lying in her bed,
partially clothed, with over thirty five dab wounds in her chest,
a fractured skull, and two broken ribs. There was a
man's bloody handprint on a nearby wall, as ostensibly belonging
to the killer. The handprint was photographed by the Pennsylvania
State Police and examined by two local fingerprint experts, but
(02:15):
it was never mentioned again either a trial or in
contemporary newspaper accounts, and it was never determined to belong
to Alexander McClay Williams. Three days after the murder, authorities
claimed that they had evidence linking Alexander Williams to Robar's murder.
They then announced that Williams had confessed to Robar's murder.
Authorities alleged that Williams confessed to fatally stabbing Robar with
(02:38):
an ice pick in spite of Robar's futally offering him
money to stop stabbing her. Initially, authorities claimed that Williams's
motive was revenge against Fred Robar for an unknown reason.
Authorities also posited that Williams murdered be to Robar because
she caught him in the act of stealing a box
of shoe polish from her house. However, days later, the
(02:59):
confess was amended to reflect that Williams allegedly murdered Robar
because she fought against a rape attempt. Overall, Williams was
interrogated five times, all without a parent or attorney president,
and signed three confessions. No eyewitnesses or direct evidence connected
Williams to the crime. At his trial, which took place
in early January nineteen thirty, one. Williams was represented by
(03:21):
William Ridley, the first black lawyer admitted to the bar
of Delaware County. Williams I'm sorry. Ridley was paid ten
dollars both to investigate evidence and defend Williams. He had
ten weeks to build his defense, and on June eighth,
nineteen thirty one, Williams was executed in Pennsylvania's Electrictare. Reporters
stated that Williams was emotional, visibly shaking, and reliant on
the assistance of a deputy to walk to his death chamber.
(03:44):
And the reason I wanted to share this story is
because the family is just now bringing a lawsuit nearly
one hundred years after his death, because obviously he was
wrongfully convicted. He was forced by the police to confess
to a crime that he didn't commit, and everyone knew
that it was the husband or ex husband all along.
All right, Next up, it's time for the Way Black
History Fact. In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored
by Major Threads for innovative, fashionable sportswear. Check major threads
dot com. I'm gonna share a story with you from Wikipedia.
I believe it to be true of research to other sources,
but this is well written and I believe it's as
factual as is necessary. But so you know, it's from Wikipedia.
(00:24):
Alexandra McLay Williams July twenty third, nineteen fourteen to July
sorry to June eighth, nineteen thirty one was an African
American teenager wrongfully convicted and executed for the nineteen thirty
murder of thirty three year old Vita Robar, a matron
of the Glen Mills Reform School he attended in Pennsylvania.
Williams confessed to the murder, although he later recanted his confession.
(00:48):
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wrongfully executed Williams for Robar's murder
in nineteen thirty one, when he was sixteen years old,
making Williams the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania. Vita
Robar worked at the Glen Mills schools alongside Fred Robar,
(01:09):
an agriculture instructor who, according to contemporaneous news reports, was
her husband. Later researched by the grandson of Williams's attorney
revealed that the Robars were actually divorced before the killing
on the grounds of Fred Robar's extreme cruelty and domestic
abuse towards Vita, and from that, you're supposed to infer
(01:34):
that she comes from a violent home life with her husband,
and yet the sixteen year old is the person who
was executed. Earlier parts of Robar's killing claim that Fred,
misidentified as her husband, returned home from work on October third,
nineteen thirty and stumbled across the crime scene. He alerted
(01:54):
police afterwards, who arrived to find Robar lying in her bed,
partially clothed, with over thirty five dab wounds in her chest,
a fractured skull, and two broken ribs. There was a
man's bloody handprint on a nearby wall, as ostensibly belonging
to the killer. The handprint was photographed by the Pennsylvania
State Police and examined by two local fingerprint experts, but
(02:15):
it was never mentioned again either a trial or in
contemporary newspaper accounts, and it was never determined to belong
to Alexander McClay Williams. Three days after the murder, authorities
claimed that they had evidence linking Alexander Williams to Robar's murder.
They then announced that Williams had confessed to Robar's murder.
Authorities alleged that Williams confessed to fatally stabbing Robar with
(02:38):
an ice pick in spite of Robar's futally offering him
money to stop stabbing her. Initially, authorities claimed that Williams's
motive was revenge against Fred Robar for an unknown reason.
Authorities also posited that Williams murdered be to Robar because
she caught him in the act of stealing a box
of shoe polish from her house. However, days later, the
(02:59):
confess was amended to reflect that Williams allegedly murdered Robar
because she fought against a rape attempt. Overall, Williams was
interrogated five times, all without a parent or attorney president,
and signed three confessions. No eyewitnesses or direct evidence connected
Williams to the crime. At his trial, which took place
in early January nineteen thirty, one. Williams was represented by
(03:21):
William Ridley, the first black lawyer admitted to the bar
of Delaware County. Williams I'm sorry. Ridley was paid ten
dollars both to investigate evidence and defend Williams. He had
ten weeks to build his defense, and on June eighth,
nineteen thirty one, Williams was executed in Pennsylvania's Electrictare. Reporters
stated that Williams was emotional, visibly shaking, and reliant on
the assistance of a deputy to walk to his death chamber.
(03:44):
And the reason I wanted to share this story is
because the family is just now bringing a lawsuit nearly
one hundred years after his death, because obviously he was
wrongfully convicted. He was forced by the police to confess
to a crime that he didn't commit, and everyone knew
that it was the husband or ex husband all along.
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