Allen Lee Davis

Template:Short description Template:Infobox criminal Allen Lee Davis (July 20, 1944 – July 8, 1999) was an American murderer who was executed for the 1982 murder of Nancy Weiler, who was three months pregnant, in Jacksonville, Florida. According to reports, Nancy Weiler was "beaten almost beyond recognition" by Davis with a .357 Magnum, and hit more than 25 times in the face and head. He was additionally convicted of killing Nancy Weiler's two daughters, Kristina, age 9, who was shot twice in the face, and Katherine, age 5, who was shot as she tried to run away and then had her skull beaten in with the gun.

Davis, who had a lengthy criminal history, was on parole for armed robbery at the time of the murders. He later admitted that his initial motive was to rape and murder Kristina, kill Katherine and Nancy, and then ransack the house.

Davis was executed on July 8, 1999, via electrocution. His execution was alleged to have been botched, with witnesses reporting that Davis was still alive after the power to Old Sparky was switched off. Blood had also leaked from Davis's nose during the execution although prison officials alleged this was caused by a nose bleed.

Because of the controversy surrounding his execution, Davis remains the last person executed by electric chair in Florida. All subsequent executions in Florida have been carried out by lethal injection, albeit inmates can still choose to be executed by electric chair.

Early life

Davis was born in Millinocket, Maine. He came born into a poor and uneducated family and came from an abusive home. According to Davis's brother, his uncle reportedly molested him as a child, and later went to prison for molesting another child. Davis himself said he had been repeatedly molested by relatives of his stepfather.

Earlier crimes

While at a hospital in Maryland in the 1960s, Davis admitted to molesting a number of young children. As a juvenile, he was charged with fondling an 11-year-old girl and sent to the State Reformatory for Men in Maine.

Davis's manslaughter stemmed from a car accident that occurred on April 21, 1965. He was put in a hospital for a month with serious injuries. Two of his friends who were in the car with him died in the accident. After Allen said that he had taken a shot for weight control and had drunk several beers prior to the accident, he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The case was heard in federal court since the accident occurred on federal property. Davis was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. He served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Petersburg, Virginia. He began his sentence on January 13, 1967. Described as a model inmate, he was paroled on November 12, 1968.

In 1973, Allen was arrested for armed robbery, attempted robbery, and use of a firearm. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and released after serving eight years of his sentence.

Nancy Weiler's husband, John Weiler, would later describe Davis as a "deviant animal that should have been permanently caged or executed many years before May 1982."

Execution

Last meal

For his last meal, Davis requested and received a dinner consisting of one lobster tail, fried potatoes, a half pound of fried shrimp, six ounces of fried clams, half a loaf of garlic bread, and Template:Convert of A&W Root Beer.

Electrical parameters

According to the licensed electrical engineer who managed the equipment, the amount of electrical energy applied to Davis in three steps was:

1. 1,500 Volts, 10 Amperes, 150 Ohms, for 8 seconds (power = 15.0 kilowatts (kW), energy = 120 kilojoules (kJ))
2. 600 Volts, 4.5 Amperes, 133 Ohms, for 22 seconds (power = 2.7 kW, energy = 59.4 kJ)
3. 1,500 Volts, 10 Amperes, 150 Ohms, for 8 seconds (power = 15.0 kW, energy = 120 kJ)

The maximum power was 15.0 kW, which is approximately equal to 11.2 horsepower. For comparison, the maximum output of a standard U.S. 15 Ampere electrical outlet is 1.8 kW or 1.3 horsepower.

The total energy used was 299.4 kJ or 284 British thermal units (BTU), over a period of 38 seconds.

A BTU is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. Davis weighed 350 pounds. 284 BTUs are the amount of heat needed to raise 350 pounds of water 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit. An average male body contains about 58±8% water.

Controversy

Davis's execution gained nationwide media attention after he bled profusely from the nose while being electrocuted. Also during his time in the electric chair, Davis suffered burns to his head, leg, and groin area.

A subsequent investigation concluded that Davis had begun bleeding before any electricity was applied. He had been taking blood thinning medication for an unrelated health problem. It was concluded that the electric chair had functioned as designed, and the Florida Supreme Court upheld electrocution as a means of capital punishment. However, a dissenting justice published photos of the aftermath of the incident in an attempt to argue that the practice of capital punishment by electrocution was outdated, and that any future executions should be carried out through lethal injection.

In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition from Thomas Harrison Provenzano, another death row inmate, arguing that the electric chair was a "cruel and unusual punishment", with Davis' execution cited as an example of an inhumane death. Template:As of, Davis was the last Florida inmate executed by electric chair. Since the 2000 execution of Terry Melvin Sims, all subsequent executions were by lethal injection, and lethal injection is Florida's primary method of execution. However, inmates may still choose electrocution. Template:As of, only Wayne C. Doty has opted for death by electrocution; Doty is still alive, and his execution date has yet to be set.

See also

• Capital punishment in Florida
• Capital punishment in the United States
• List of botched executions
• List of people executed in Florida
• List of people executed in the United States in 1999

References

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External links

• DC.State.fl.us, Inmate Release Information Detail - Inmate 040174. Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
• DC.State.fl.us, August 3, 1999 Order Upholding Constitutionality of the Electric Chair. Florida Department of Corrections (1999-08-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.