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The decapitated woman who was the last person in Arizona to be executed by hanging


Eva Dugan gained notoriety by being the only woman executed and the last person in Arizona to be executed by hanging. She was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly chicken rancher, Andrew J. Mathis, and was ordered to be hung for the killing. Eva claimed innocence until her time ran out but accepted her fate nonetheless. She seemed composed as she mounted the steps towards the gallows, telling the guards, "Don't hold my arms so tight, the people will think I'm afraid." She swayed slightly as the noose was placed around her neck and tightened. As the trapdoor below her feet gave way, her head was decapitated from her body. It rolled to a corner of the platform by spectators' feet. The crowd that gathered gasped. The gas chamber replaced the gallows after that incident.

Here is the story in detail

Mrs. Eva Dugan, the first woman to be legally executed in Arizona, paid with her life on the gallows shortly before dawn today for the slaying in 1927 of A. P. Mathis, Tucson rancher. The trap was sprung at 5:02 a. m. As the trap clanged and she dropped more than six feet, the noose tightened, severing her head, and the body catapulted to the floor. Dr. L. A. Love, prison physician, pronounced her dead immediately. Mrs. Eva Dugan, the first woman to be legally executed in Arizona, paid with her life on the gallows shortly before dawn today for the slaying in 1927 of A. P. Mathis, Tucson rancher. The trap was sprung at 5:02 a. m. As the trap clanged and she dropped more than six feet, the noose tightened, severing her head, and the body catapulted to the floor. Dr. L. A. Love, prison physician, pronounced her dead immediately. attempting to sell a cow and some chickens on the ranch, left in a coupe owned by Mathis, in company with “Jack.” It is believed that this young man, whose last name has never been learned, was employed by Mrs. Dugan to drive the car. Mrs. Dugan and the boy first went to Amarillo, Tex. where she sold the coupe for $600, signing the papers “Eva Mathis.” The boy signed “A. J. Mathis.” There Mrs. Dugan bought tickets to Kansas City. After discovery of the body of Mathis on December 11, 1927 by J.F. Nash, an Oklahoma machinist, who had selected the precise spot where the body was buried to drive a tent stake, Mrs. Dugan was arrested at White Plains, N. Y., returned to Tucson and convicted of first degree murder. She was originally sentenced to be hanged June 1, 1928, but obtained a stay of execution upon appeal to the state supreme court Dec. 1929. The supreme court affirmed the judgment of conviction and resentenced her to be hanged Feb. 21, 1920, exactly two years from the date her trial began. Last month an application was made to the board of pardons and paroles for commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment. Following a hearing, by a vote of two to one, the board declined to recommend commutation. After a jury found Mrs. Dugan sane, the board was asked for a reprieve, which was refused.

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