It's safe to say that innocent people have been executed since the dawn of human life. Whether it's a flawed justice system, human error, discrimination, or other causes, it's a fact that innocent people die. Throughout the history of the world, many innocent people were killed, known or unknown at that time. In today's world, it seems that more and more innocent people who are put on the brink of Death somehow come to light and their innocence is recognized.
While not the happiest Top Tenz list you'll ever read, the list is definitely interesting. It will certainly make you step back and rethink death and execution itself; maybe even the death penalty will shake your head. Here is the list of the top 10 innocent people who did not escape execution.
5. Saints Cosmas and Damian
Twins born in Arabia, two boys devoted their lives to practicing the healing arts. The couple concentrated their experiences in the Aegean seaport as well as in the Gulf of Issus. None of them accepted payment for their healings and were often called "anargyroi" or silverless. Many believed that they performed their healing experiments in the name of Christinari. However, the two were soon arrested because of the prefect of Cilicia. This was given by Diocletian and the boys were tortured and told to retreat. On September 27, probably in 287, they were crucified, stoned, shot, and beheaded. Today, boys are sacred and are the patrons of doctors and surgeons.
4. William Marion
William Marion is one of many men posthumously pardoned. Marion was with another man, John Cameron, in May 1872 when the two went on a trip to Kansas to visit Marion's in-laws. But a few days later, Marion returned home to Nebraska alone. Eleven years pass and a boy is found who is said to be wearing Cameron's clothes. Marion was arrested, tried and sentenced to death for murder. Although he was granted a new trial because there was no jury verdict, a new jury convicted him, and he was shot and killed on March 25, 1887. But four years after the execution, Cameron survived and explained that he fled to Mexico to escape the wedding with a shotgun. In 1987, Marion was pardoned.
3. Joan of Arc
Known for being a peasant girl from eastern France who was able to lead a successful French army during the Hundred Years' War, Joan of Arc was a woman of her time. He told many that when the British began to dominate the war, he had visions from God telling him to recover and help his country. He cut his hair and disguised himself as a man by wearing men's clothes and armor to defend his country. The English tried him in an ecclesiastical court and found him guilty of heresy. He was finally burned at the stake and asked to have a cross in front of him. Her ashes were cremated several times because no one wanted to claim her. Many also say that he was sexually assaulted while in prison.
2. Jesse Tafero
He was said to have killed Florida Highway Patrol Officer Phillip Black and his friend Donald Irwin. After a routine check, Phillip Black realized that Tafero and his friend Walter Rhodes were sleeping in a car with guns. Black, like Irwin, was shot after approaching the car and waking the men. Those men then stole a police car, left and were arrested. Both were convicted, but only Tafero received the death penalty and was executed. During his execution, because the wrong type of sponge was used, the chair malfunctioned, flames erupted from his body, and he did not die immediately. Many claim that Tafero took about 13 minutes to die after three blows. Today, it is said that it was actually his accomplice, Rhodes, who shot the two men.
1. John Southworth
John Southworth came from a very religious family in Lancashire. Instead of renouncing the Catholic faith, his family resorted to paying extremely heavy fines to be able to continue their Catholic faith. He was ordained a priest and was soon arrested and sentenced to death for converting to the Catholic faith. Instead of being executed, he was exiled to France and helped many recover during the plague. He was soon arrested again under the Interregnum. He pleaded guilty to performing priestly duties and was to be hanged, then drawn and quartered. He was executed in 1654, but only hanged. He was canonized in 1970 as a martyr of England and Wales in 1929 and later canonized.
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