Wilbert Lee Evans
Wilbert Lee Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 20, 1946 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | October 17, 1990 (aged 44) |
| Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
| Other names | Willie Evans |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Argument over a card game (Collins murder) To avoid arrest (Truesdale murder) |
| Conviction | Capital murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | Alton J. Collins, 37 William G. Truesdale, 47 |
| Date | August 31, 1978 January 27, 1981 |
| States | North Carolina and Virginia |
Wilbert Lee Evans (January 20, 1946 – October 17, 1990) was an American convict who was executed in Virginia's electric chair for the murder of 47-year-old Deputy Sheriff William Gene Truesdale in Alexandria, Virginia. Truesdale's murder occurred in 1981 during Evans's attempted escape from custody, as Evans was accused of other crimes in North Carolina, including a previous murder, and had been temporarily transported to Virginia to testify in another man's extradition hearing there.
Evans's execution was controversial due to several factors, including his documented good behavior and rehabilitation behind bars, trial errors and prosecutorial misconduct that abolitionists and Evans's attorneys argued should have resulted in a retrial or a reduced sentence, and the nature of Evans's death, as his execution in Virginia's electric chair was described as botched. When the electricity was applied, blood began to pour from the eyes, mouth, and nose of Evans, who was known to have high blood pressure and whose last meal of pork slices was blamed for causing hypertension.