Joseph Arridy
Encyclopedia
Joseph "Joe" Arridy was a mentally disabled American man executed for rape and murder and posthumously granted a pardon
. Arridy was sentenced to death for the murder and rape of a Pueblo, Colorado
schoolgirl. He confessed to murdering the girl and assaulting her sister. Due to the sensational nature of the crime precautions were taken to keep him from being hanged by vigilante justice. His sentence was executed after multiple stays on January 6, 1939. Arridy was the first Colorado prisoner posthumously pardoned in January 2011 by Colorado
Governor Bill Ritter, a former district attorney, after research had shown that Arridy was likely not in Pueblo when the crime happened and had been coerced into confessing.
. Prior to notification by the sheriff in Cheyenne, Wyoming
, Pueblo had already arrested Frank Aguliar as the prime suspect when Sheriff George Carroll contacted the sheriff in Pueblo and claimed that Arridy told him several times he had "been with a man named Frank" at the crime scene. Joe gave several versions of the murder in multiple confessions, the first was that a club was used in the murder. This later changed when the authorities found an axe at the scene and he later testified in interviews that he used an axe. When the case was finally brought to trial his lawyer didn't try to fight the allegations and instead sought reprieve through a plea of insanity. Arridy was convicted even though there was a lack of hard evidence which included the sisters testimony that Frank Aguilar had been present and not Arrridy and the determination he was an "imbecile" with a IQ score in the 40s by three state psychiatrists who agreed that Arridy was “incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and therefore, would be unable to perform any action with a criminal intent.”.
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
. Arridy was sentenced to death for the murder and rape of a Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
schoolgirl. He confessed to murdering the girl and assaulting her sister. Due to the sensational nature of the crime precautions were taken to keep him from being hanged by vigilante justice. His sentence was executed after multiple stays on January 6, 1939. Arridy was the first Colorado prisoner posthumously pardoned in January 2011 by Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
Governor Bill Ritter, a former district attorney, after research had shown that Arridy was likely not in Pueblo when the crime happened and had been coerced into confessing.
Arrest and Conviction
Joe was arrested August 26, 1936 after being caught in a boxcar running away from an institution. He was caught in a large ongoing search investigating the murder and rape of a Pueblo schoolgirl. The sheriff was interested in the case after determining that Arridy had come through Pueblo while on the run from Grand Junction, ColoradoGrand Junction, Colorado
The City of Grand Junction is the largest city in western Colorado. It is a city with a council–manager government form that is the county seat and the most populous city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction is situated west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As...
. Prior to notification by the sheriff in Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
, Pueblo had already arrested Frank Aguliar as the prime suspect when Sheriff George Carroll contacted the sheriff in Pueblo and claimed that Arridy told him several times he had "been with a man named Frank" at the crime scene. Joe gave several versions of the murder in multiple confessions, the first was that a club was used in the murder. This later changed when the authorities found an axe at the scene and he later testified in interviews that he used an axe. When the case was finally brought to trial his lawyer didn't try to fight the allegations and instead sought reprieve through a plea of insanity. Arridy was convicted even though there was a lack of hard evidence which included the sisters testimony that Frank Aguilar had been present and not Arrridy and the determination he was an "imbecile" with a IQ score in the 40s by three state psychiatrists who agreed that Arridy was “incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and therefore, would be unable to perform any action with a criminal intent.”.