Burton Wilbur Abbott (February 8, 1928 – March 15, 1957)[1] was an American man who was convicted of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan in Berkeley, California.
Burton W. Abbott | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 8, 1928 |
| Died | March 15, 1957 (aged 29) |
| Cause of death | Execution by gas chamber |
| Occupation | Student |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Spouse | Georgia Abbott |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent | Elsie Abbott (née Moore) |
| Conviction(s) | First degree murder Kidnapping |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Abbott's wife discovered the evidence in their home's basement and Stephanie's body was found buried near the Abbott family's cabin . In November 1955, he was sentenced to death in California's gas chamber. In March 15, 1957, a (second) one-hour stay of execution from the governor of California was communicated to the prison moments too late to halt his execution.
The case is sometimes cited when discussing the appropriateness of condemning a person based on circumstantial evidence alone.[2] However, "most criminal convictions are based on circumstantial evidence, although it must be adequate to meet established standards of proof."[3]
Background
editBurton Abbott, called Bud by his family, was the younger of two sons to Harold Mark Abbott Sr. (1893–1952) and Elsie Belle Moore (1903–2004).[4][5] Abbott served in the U.S. Army for 14 months until he was honorably discharged after contracting tuberculosis and having half of a lung surgically removed.[6][7][8] At the time of the crime, Abbott was an accountant student at University of California at Berkeley since 1953.[9]
Murder and investigation
editStephanie Bryan was last seen on April 28, 1955, walking home from school where she went through the parking lot of the Claremont Hotel in the Berkeley Hills. A large-scale search failed to find her. In mid-July, Georgia Abbott, Burton Abbott's wife, reported finding personal effects which had belonged to the girl, including a purse and an ID card, in the basement of the Abbotts' home in Alameda. The basement was in the home she shared with her husband, their son Christopher, and Burton's mother, Elsie Abbott.
In interviewing the Abbotts, the police learned that Elsie Abbott had found the purse earlier, but said she did not connect it with the case. She would profess her son's innocence until she died.[10]
Police subsequently recovered Stephanie's glasses, a brassiere, and other evidence in the basement. No one in the family could account for how the victim's personal effects came to be there.[11]
Burton Abbott told multiple, contradictory stories including that he had been at the family's cabin 285 miles away near Weaverville, California, in Trinity County, when Stephanie disappeared.[12][13]
On July 20, 1955, the victim's body was found by police bloodhounds and San Francisco Examiner reporter Ed Montgomery in a shallow grave a few hundred feet from the cabin,[14] and Abbott was charged with her rape and murder.[2]
Trial
editThe trial was one of the most highly publicized in California history.[15] Abbott's defense was headed by Stanley D. Whitney. Under Alameda County District Attorney J. Frank Coakley, the prosecution hypothesis was that Abbott had attempted to rape the victim and killed her when she resisted. 16 state witnesses placed Abbott near Bryan's usual school route. Two of them, married couple Jackie and Allen Hill, also claimed that the day of Bryan's disappearance, they had seen a car that had seemingly skidded off the road around the same area and seen the driver engaged in a physical struggle with a young girl, who wore clothing similar to Bryan.[16][17] Abbott pleaded not guilty.[17]
He explained that in May, the basement of the house had been used as a polling site with many people having access. Although the prosecution charged Abbott with rape, the pathologist testified that the body was too decomposed to evaluate it for evidence of sexual assault.[2]
Abbott took the stand and testified for four days. He spoke in a soft voice and was steadfast in his denials of any knowledge of the crime.[18] He said it was all a "monstrous frame-up". The jury was out seven days before it returned a verdict of guilty of first degree murder. The judge imposed the death sentence.[2]
As provided by California law, there was an automatic appeal to the Supreme Court of California. In a detailed opinion describing the facts of the case and reciting the evidence that had been presented at trial, the court affirmed the conviction and the sentence of death.[19]
Execution
editAbbott was incarcerated at San Quentin to await execution. His lawyers tried to appeal for over a year. Before his execution, Abbott spoke to the doctor at San Quentin. The doctor said that when he asked Abbott about the crime, he said "I can't admit it, doc. Think of what it would do to my mother; she couldn't take it."[2]
On March 15, 1957, the day of the execution which was scheduled for 10:00 am, Abbott's attorney George T. Davis appealed to the United States Court of Appeals and was denied. He then tried to contact the governor of California, Goodwin J. Knight, but the governor was on a naval ship, out at sea, and out of reach of the telephone. The attorney arranged with a TV station to broadcast a plea to the governor.
At 9:02 Governor Knight, now reachable by telephone, granted a one-hour stay. Within six minutes a writ of habeas corpus was presented to the Supreme Court of California, but at 10:42 am the petition was denied. The attorney tried again with an appeal to the U.S. District Court, but that court refused a further postponement at 10:50 am.
At 11:12 am Governor Knight was reached again and agreed to another stay. At 11:14 am Abbott was led to the gas chamber and strapped into the chair while the governor's clemency secretary Joseph Babich was contacting the warden by telephone. The executioner pulled the lever three minutes later and 16 pellets of sodium cyanide dropped into a vat of sulfuric acid as Knight reached prison warden Harold O. Teets to stay the execution. Teets told him it was too late, and Abbott died as the governor hung up the telephone.[20][21][9]
References
edit- ^ "California Death Records, 1940-1997". Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Knappman, Edward W. (1994). Great American Trials. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 475–477. ISBN 0-8103-9134-1.
- ^ "Circumstantial evidence". Britannica. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
- ^ Nolte, Carl (May 2, 2004). "ELSIE ABBOTT / Mother in Sensational Murder Case Dies at 100 / She never gave up on son's innocence". SFGATE.
- ^ "Missing witness: Mother of Abbott said with friends". Lodi News-Sentinel. August 1, 1955. p. 1.
- ^ "California University Student Questioned About Girl's Death". Gazette and Bulletin. July 21, 1955. p. 15.
- ^ "Abbott Big Help in Convicting Himself, Says Jury Foreman". The Sunday News-Press. January 28, 1956. p. 1.
- ^ "Abbott Earns Death For Kidnap Murder". Lewiston Evening Journal. January 26, 1956.
- ^ a b "Execution stay is minutes late". The Leader-Post. March 16, 1957. p. 1.
- ^ "Elsie Abbott, who defended killer son, dies at 100". Oakland Tribune. May 6, 2004. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
- ^ "Belongings of Lost Stephanie Dug Up in E. Bay Cellar". The San Francisco Examiner. archived by Investigation Discovery. July 17, 1955. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Schreibman, Jack (May 31, 1987). "'Self-Convicted' Murderer of Girl Paid Full Price". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
- ^ "Man Claims Innocence - TB Victim Denies Stephanie Bryan Slaying in California". Reading Eagle. July 22, 1955. p. 21.
- ^ "Dogs Lead Deputies To Girl's Grave". Lewiston Evening Journal. July 21, 1955. p. 8.
- ^ "Brief History of the Alameda County District Attorney's Office". Alameda County Government. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
- ^ "Witness Places Abbott Near Stephanie's Kidnapping Site". Oxnard Press-Courier. November 19, 1955. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Mystery witness for prosecution". Lodi News-Sentinel. November 21, 1955. p. 1.
- ^ Adams, Charles Francis (2005). Murder By The Bay: Historic Homicide in and about the City of San Francisco. Quill Driver Books. p. 226. ISBN 9781884995460. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
burton abbott.
- ^ People v. Abbott, 47 Cal. 2d 362, 303 P.2d 730 (1956)
- ^ "Race in the Death House". Time. March 25, 1957. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
- ^ "Stay of execution two minutes too late". The Tuscaloosa News. March 16, 1957. p. 1.