George Stinney Jr

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Disprushing. Mister George Stenny Junior was
born on October twenty first, nineteen twenty

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nine. He grew up in al
Klou, South Carolina. His father,

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George Stenny Senior, worked at the
local lumberyard in Sawmill. The sawmill brought

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a lot of life to the small
town, employing many of its residents.

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The Stenny family even lived in a
company owned house. Their house was small,

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with a chicken coop in the back
room, enough for George, his

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parents, and his siblings. When
George Stenny was fourteen, he was still

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pretty small. He was only five
foot one inch and around ninety five pounds.

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He had a younger sister named Amy
that he often referred to as his

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shadow. She followed him everywhere he
went. On March twenty second, nineteen

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forty four, they were playing outside
of the house when two little white girls

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riding their bikes stopped to talk to
them. This was extremely unusual at the

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time. The town was still extremely
segregated. The white and black families attended

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different churches, the children went to
separate schools, and the railroad tracks divided

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their housing. The girls were looking
for may Pops. It's a name they

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used in that area for passion flowers, and Stenny told them he didn't know

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where to look for the maypops,
so the girls continued on their way.

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The next day, while his parents
were away at work, two black cars

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rolled down the dusty driveway. Amy
was scared and she hid in the chicken

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coop. George and his brother John
were taken into custody and questioned for murder.

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Betty June Binnaker, age eleven,
and Mary Emma Thames, aged seven,

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never made it home from their bike
ride. Their bodies had been found

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on the black side of the train
tracks, their heads beaten with a blunt

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object strong enough to crush their skulls, and the oldest had physical signs that

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she may have been raped. John
was released, but George Stenney was charged

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with the crimes. One of the
arresting officers claimed that Stenny gave a full

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confession and even told them where to
look for the murder weapon. After a

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search of the area, they found
a railroad spike. In just eighty one

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days, Stinney was dead too.
The trial started and ended on April twenty

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fourth. Stenny's defense was made up
of one court appointed council, Charles plowdhim

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X commissioner that was running for a
local office. The prosecution called on three

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of the arresting officers, the reverend
that discovered the girl's bodies, and the

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two doctors that performed the post mortem
exams. Plowden didn't even cross examine the

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prosecution's witnesses, called in none of
his own, did not challenge the prosecutor's

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recollection of events even though he told
two different versions, and did not question

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why there was no record written or
confirmed of the confession. He did nothing

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to defend George Stenney Junior. The
entire proceeding lasted only two and a half

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hours. In less than ten minutes, the jury, which consisted of twelve

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white men, returned from deliberation with
a verdict of guilty for the fourteen year

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old boy. Judge Philip Stole sentenced
Stenny to death by electrocution. The crowd

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both in and around the courthouse seemed
pretty pleased with the finding. There were

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over one thousand white men and women
that showed up for the trial, even

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though the defendant was black. They
did not allow black men or women in

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the court house. From the time
Stenny was arrested. His parents were not

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allowed to see him until after the
trial. He sat in the interrogation rooms

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alone, no parents and no counsel. He sat in jail awaiting the trial

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alone. His parents had not been
allowed to visit or communicate with him at

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all. Stenny's father was fired from
his job, and since they lived in

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a company owned house, they had
to immediately move. They relocated closer to

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grandparents while they figured out what to
do. They tried to find someone to

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help them appeal the ruling. Local
churches and the NAACP appealed to Governor Olan

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Johnson to consider clemency considering the age
of the boy. Ironically, most of

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the letters he received were from white
women that didn't want to see someone so

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young executed. The governor visited Stenny
to two days before his execution. The

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governor said that he wanted those begging
for clemency to know that Stenny killed the

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smaller girl so that he could rape
the bigger one, but then he killed

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the bigger one before raping her dead
body. He even returned later with the

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intention of raping her again, but
found the body was already too cold.

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He claimed Stenny admitted all of it. Of course, it was reported that

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all of those were rumors that the
governor heard, and that it never came

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from Stenny directly. Steney told other
inmates that he was coerced and maintained his

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innocence. On June sixteenth, nineteen
forty four, at seven thirty a m.

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He was prepared for execution. His
arms and legs and body were restrained

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to the chair. He was too
short, so they placed a thick bible

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under him. When asked if he
had any last words, he said no,

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sir. Then they placed the leather
strap in his mouth, and he

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burst into tears. They placed him
that seemed way too large on his head,

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and his sobs could be heard around
the room. With the first flick

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of electricity, the mask shook off
of his head, revealing the tear stained

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face of the young boy. It
took three flips of the switch before he

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was pronounced dead. There was a
witness from one of the victim's families and

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said that the event was not nearly
so dramatic. He denied that they placed

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a bible under him or that the
mask fell off as soon as the electricity

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was turned on. Exact records of
the event cannot be found, so we

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can only go on what is recounted
from those that were there. So why

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eighty years later is this case still
being debated In case you haven't been able

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to tell so far in the story, very little has been actually agreed upon

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what occurred in nineteen forty four.
In two thousand and four, George Friarson,

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a historian that grew up in al
Kalou, started researching the case.

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It wasn't long before several pro bono
lawyers got involved, and then they got

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more people to volunteer. They went
through historical documents, found witnesses, and

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located evidence that they believe could exonerate
Stenny. Although there was no transcript of

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the actual trial, a motion for
a new trial was filed in twenty thirteen.

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In twenty fourteen, the Civil Rights
and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University

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filed an amicus brief with the court
stating that the case was based exclusively on

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a confession that was not recorded or
written, and taken without the consent of

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parents or presence of counsel. Rather
than approving a new trial, the judge

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vacated the conviction. The overturning of
the conviction did not mean that Stenny was

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innocent, but that he did not
receive a fair trial and should not have

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been executed so quickly. The new
ruling also caused a flood of responses.

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The Stenny family was thrilled. They
always claimed that Stenny was innocent, that

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he was with the siblings when the
murders occurred and he could not have done

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it. The Bickner and Thames families
were disappointed. While they understood that he

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may not have received a fair trial, they felt as though he was being

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painted as a poor black boy that
was unfairly charged with a crime, but

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in reality was undoubtedly guilty. The
different opinions continued to be vocalized. There

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was an interview from Stinney's seventh grade
teacher that was published in nineteen ninety five.

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They claimed he had threatened a girl
at school the day the crime took

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place. Amy Stenny's sister contacted him
and claimed that he told her it was

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not true, but he was paid
to say that the teacher died shortly after,

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so neither side of the story could
be confirmed. The reverend that found

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the bodies said that there was very
little blood in the ditch, considering how

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badly the girls had been beaten.
If they had been killed there, it

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seemed as though there would be a
lot more blood if they had been killed

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somewhere else and then moved there.
It didn't seem possible that such a small

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child could have picked them both up
and carried them. There was a theory

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that the girls may have been killed
by George Burke Junior. Stinny's mom worked

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for their family for a short time. They were a wealthy white family.

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She was uncomfortable with the advances of
the father. When she told her husband

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about it, he told her not
to return to work for that family.

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Missus Burke was angry over the whole
event, maybe a little embarrassed, and

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the theory is that the boys hurt
the girls and pinned it on George Stenney

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Junior to get even. Added to
that, George Burke Senior owned the property

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where the girls were found and served
as the foreman on the grand jury in

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Stinney's case. Supposedly a member of
the family made a deathbed confession about the

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event, but once again there are
no records and no one to confirm it.

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Now, Alcalou, South Carolina,
seems like a forgotten town with a

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population of around four hundred people.
Weeds have reclaimed, old buildings, and

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vacant stores line the streets, yet
the memory of what happened is far from

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fading. Three memorial crosses are placed
at the ditch where the girls were found,

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one for each young life lost after
a tragic event. Sometimes it's not

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the truth that decides the outcome of
a story. Sometimes the majority can be

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persuaded by which side is the most
convincing. As the old saying goes,

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believe nothing you hear and half of
what you see. That's ten minute Murder

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for today, brief and binge able
true crime. I'm Joe, I'm the

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host, and I really appreciate you
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Murder, make sure you hit subscribe
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limb and assume that about it.
Just hit subscribe and that will more easily

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help you catch up on all of
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or go to ten Minute Murder dot
com and you'll find the links to

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all of that stuff. Now,
we haven't done this in a while,

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but a quick listener email, Hi
Joe, it's been ages since you gave

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a list of pet peeves or things
bothering you right now, so do it

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please. I like your podcast,
Nancy and North Kakilaki. And by the

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way she wrote North Kakilaki, I
didn't just try to sound cool and say

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that what's bothering me right now?
Man? I try to stay pretty positive,

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so it's difficult to come up with
this on the spot. Whoever,

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stop saying that people rock, you
rock. Nobody has rocked since like two

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thousand and four. We can stop
saying that hit me up, knock it

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off. Don't say that anymore.
And also, why are we doing shout

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outs still? We can mention something, but shout outs. I'd like for

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shout out the term shout out to
just all together go away. I cringe

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a little bit every time someone says, let me give you a shout out.

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Now, it's different in different contexts. In different contexts which I'm not

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going to go into, like it's
it's acceptable. But for most contexts,

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I don't want to be shouted out. I don't want to hear someone be

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shouted out. I don't know why
that bothers me, and I understand that

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it's irrational, but I was asked
the question by Nancy and North Cakilaki,

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so I feel like I'm compelled to
answer. All Right, that's going to

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do it. That is the episode
for today. Thank you so much for

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listening to the podcast, and I'll
see you in the next one.