John evans alabama execution

American murderer executed in Alabama (1950–1983)

For other people named John Evans, see John Evans (disambiguation).

John Louis Evans III (January 4, 1950 – April 22, 1983) was the first inmate to be executed by the state of Alabama after the United States reinstituted the death penalty in 1976.

The manner of his execution is frequently cited by opponents of capital punishment in the United States. Evans was born in Beaumont, Texas, and was executed at the Holman Correctional Facility, then near Atmore, Alabama, at the age of 33.

Crime, conviction and sentencing

After his 1976 parole from an Indiana prison, Evans and fellow convict Wayne Ritter (January 30, 1954 – August 28, 1987) embarked on a two-month-long crime spree involving, by Evans's own admission, over thirty armed robberies, nine kidnappings, and two extortion schemes across seven states.

On January 5, 1977, he and Ritter robbed and killed Edward Nassar, a pawn shop owner in Mobile, Alabama,