John A. Bennett
John A. Bennett (* 10. April 1935 , † 13. April 1961 in Fort Leavenworth ) was a Private First Class of the US Army , which because of the rape and attempted murder of an eleven year old Austrian girl to death by the strand was sentenced . After conviction, he was transferred to the US military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas . After President Kennedy personally reviewed and approved the court martial , Bennett became the last person sentenced to death under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to be hanged in the United States Disciplinary Barracks .
Bennett was African American and had epilepsy from birth . He left his Salzburg base in January 1955, drunk, to go to a brothel nearby. On the way he met the girl, raped her and then tried to drown her in a nearby stream. A month later, he was sentenced by a court martial after five days of trial and twenty-five minutes of deliberation. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy upheld the judgments as required by law. An application by the victim and his parents for a pardon was not complied with.
literature
- Richard Serrano: Last Soldier to Die at Leavenworth Hanged in an April Storm . In: Los Angeles Times , July 12, 1994.
- Richard Serrano: Pvt. John Bennett Is the Only US Soldier Executed for Rape in Peacetime. . In: Los Angeles Times , September 10, 2000
Web links
- List of US Army executions from the Death Penalty Information Center
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bennett, John A. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soldier |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 10, 1935 |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 13, 1961 |
| Place of death | Fort Leavenworth, Kansas |