A few weeks ago, I wrote about the hanging of Willis Washam in 1854 in Greene County, Missouri, which was the first legal hanging in the county. The last hanging in the county and, as far as I know, the only other legal one occurred over 80 years later in 1935, when Frank "Sonny" McDaniel was hanged for the murder of his paramour, Savilla "Billie" Scott.
The 28-year-old McDaniel had served a term in the Missouri State Penitentiary for burglary and larceny and another on in the Federal prison at Leavenworth for violating liquor laws. Around 1932, he came back to Springfield, where he was unemployed and spent most of his time loafing in pool halls. However, the 24-year-old Savilla, who was estranged from her husband, took up with the idler, moved in with him, and helped support him through her work as an "elevator girl" at a Springfield department store.
In March of 1933, the couple had been living together for about nine months, but they often argued over McDaniel's continuing attention to other women. According to testimony at McDaniel's subsequent trial, the two went to a dance together on the night of March 27, but they again quarreled, and McDaniel left early. Later, Savilla went home accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law, and the three found McDaniel there. Savilla announced her intention of leaving McDaniel, started taking down some curtains she owned, and otherwise began making arrangements to vacate the premises. "Let her go, I don't give a damn!" McDaniel reportedly declared when he saw Savilla making arrangements to leave.
But apparently he did care. The next evening he was driving his car around Springfield with 22-year-old Edward Warren, an acquaintance, as his passenger, when he spotted Savilla on the street, stopped, and offered to take her to her destination. Savilla got in, but instead of taking her where she wanted to go, McDaniel drove south of Springfield a few miles and stopped on a dirt road a short distance west of Campbell Street Road. He lit a cigarette and told Savilla he'd brought her out here to kill her. She asked why, and he said, "Because you did me dirty." After a pause, though, he dropped his head and said, "I guess I won't."
McDaniel then drove east of Campbell Street Road and stopped on another isolated, dirt road. Regaining his resolve, he ordered both Savilla and Warren out of the car. He told Warren to stay at the front of the car, and he took Savilla to the rear of the vehicle. Warren heard Savilla pleading for her life, and he went to the rear of the car to try to intervene. McDaniel ordered him back to the front, though, and Warren soon heard four or five gunshots. McDaniel came back to the front of the car and threatened to kill Warren, too, but he decided to let him live, warning that he definitely would kill him if he didn't keep his mouth shut.
Savilla's body was found early the next morning, March 29, by residents of the area. She had been shot four times in the head and five times in total. McDaniel was arrested later the same day and was called to testify at a coroner's jury the next day, March 30. He offered an alibi and said that Edward Warren could verify it, but, instead, Warren ended up being the main witness against the suspect.
McDaniel was tried without delay, convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to be hanged on July 28. The verdict was appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, however, and the prisoner was transferred to the state pen at Jeff City to await the high court's decision. The defense's main contention in its appeal was that McDaniel's testimony at the coroner's jury amounted to being compelled to incriminate himself.
The supreme court didn't see it that way, suggesting that McDaniel was just a material witness at that point and that his testimony had been freely given. In early March 1935, the justices affirmed the lower court's decision and reset the execution for April 12, 1935. McDaniel was brought back to Springfield from Jeff City on April 11. Early the next morning, he went to the scaffold on the courthouse grounds in Springfield still protesting his innocence. "God bless you all," he said, just moments before dropping into eternity.
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