Talk:Capital punishment in Connecticut

Minimum age for death penalty in Connecticut

Can anyone find information on the minimum age for the death penalty in Connecticut in the decade before Roper v Simmons? I was suprised to find that New Hampshire had the Juvenile Death Penalty and I believe I read somewhere that Connecticut did too. smb2aSmb2a (talk) 15:25, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Check out this page: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=27&did=203 [1]. It says that prior to Roper v. Simmons (2005), there were three states (Connecticut, New York, and North Carolina) that set age 16 as the minimum age for execution. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:29, 28 March 2008 (UTC))

No, that just means they can be tried as adults. It has nothing to do with the death penalty. I made the same mistake myself. Smb2a (talk) 01:06, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually, that does mean that they can be tried as adults ... but ... it has everything to do with the death penalty. I called the State of Connecticut Law Library at the Connecticut Supreme Court in Hartford, CT. I spoke with one of the lawyers and one of the reference law library directors there. They were very helpful and we talked for about 20 minutes to half-an-hour ... about this exact issue. This is basically what they said. Before Roper vs. Simmons, Connecticut did not have a specific law / statute that states what the minimum age is for execution. (And still doesn't, by the way.) The only people that are eligible for execution are those that are sentenced through the adult court (and not those through juvenile court). Anyone who gets into adult court -- and is otherwise eligible -- can receive the death penalty. So, at the age of 16, certain criminals can get transferred into adult court ... and they can get the death sentence. Those who cannot get into adult court and are "stuck" in juvenile court cannot get the death penalty. Thus, those age 16 are eligible for adult court and, thus, those age 16 are eligible for the death penalty. Since Connecticut did not have a specific law to indicate the age, all that I described above was the state of the law at the time (before Roper v. Simmons). Hope this is helpful. If you want to talk with anyone there yourself, I am sure they will tell you exactly what I just told you above. See this website: [2]. Their phone number is: 860-757-6590. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:44, 30 March 2008 (UTC))

Last juvenile executed in Connecticut?

Can anyone give me some info inmate Raymond Lewie, executed on Oct. 1 1946 at age 19 along with the two other killers, 1 year and 7 months after the murder of a corrections officer. Given the timing, he may be the last juvenile offender put to death in Connecticut ( http://odmp.org/officer/18590-guard-herbert-orlando-parsell ... http://www.cslib.org/executions.htm ). Smb2a (talk) 12:54, 02 June 2008 (UTC)

Here is some information that I found out about this. (See below.) So, this seems to match the executed Raymond Lewie, who was involved in the murder of a prison guard while attempting an escape with two other inmates. He has the correct death date. He has the correct age at death. And, in those days, the State Prison was in Wethersfield ... so he has the correct death place. All of this information was found at the following web site: [3]. So, this is what I came up with (below). If indeed this is the same person (which it seems to be) ... then this Raymond Lewie was indeed a 17-year-old juvenile at the time of the commission of the crime for which he was later executed. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:06, 31 May 2009 (UTC))

Name: Raymond Earl Lewie

Date of Birth: May 16, 1927

Place of Birth: Manchester, CT

Date of Death: October 1, 1946

Place of Death: Wethersfield, CT

Date of Murder: March 9, 1945 (Lewie's age on this date was 17 years and 297 days old.)

Date of Execution: October 1, 1946 (Lewie's age on this date was 19 years and 138 days old.)

Work in progress

I am in the middle of doing some work on this article. It is still a work in progress. Some parts of the article are still incomplete. Thanks. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 02:39, 31 May 2009 (UTC))

Last female hung?

The table currently lists out two females hung, stating the last female hung was in 1753. The subsequent entry states a female was hung in 1786. Am I missing something?

Year	Date	Milestone	Name	Race	Sex	Age	Method	Offense
1753	November 21	last female to be executed by hanging	Bramble, Sarah	White	Female		Hanging	Murder
1786	December 20	youngest person to be executed	Ocuish, Hannah	Native American	Female	12	Hanging	Murder

Thanks for pointing out that discrepancy. Let me look into it. I believe that I have sources that have indicated both of these statements to be true (even though they are inconsistent and contradictory). But, I will look into this. Thank you. By the way, the records and data on the old executions from colonial times are spotty, at best. Thank you. (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 13:31, 19 October 2010 (UTC))

Looking at this chart (List of individuals executed in Connecticut) very quickly, it seems that Sarah Bramble was the last female (adult) executed in Connecticut (and it just happened to be an execution by hanging). Then, Hannah Ocuish was subsequently executed (also by hanging), but she was a juvenile female. I think the discrepancy lies in the wording and semantics. But, I think that what I have stated here (in this post) is what the table is attempting to reflect. Nonetheless, I will check into all this and make some changes. Thanks again! (Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 13:38, 19 October 2010 (UTC))

Addition to Connecticut list

Richard Roszkowski was recently added to Connecticut's death row. Source: Death sentence imposed in Bridgeport triple killing. Please add him to the article. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:34, 10 August 2014 (UTC)