Victor Feguer
Encyclopedia
Victor Harry Feguer was a convicted murderer and the last federal inmate executed
in the United States
before the moratorium on the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia
, and the last person put to death in the state of Iowa
. While at the time the news media paid little attention to Victor Feguer or his execution, Timothy McVeigh
's execution sparked renewed media interest in Feguer.
. In the summer of 1960, Feguer arrived in Dubuque, Iowa
, renting a room at a decrepit boarding house. Soon after arriving, Feguer began phoning physician
s alphabetically from the local Yellow Pages
. Dr. Alt wasn't at home, but Dr. Edward Bartels was. Feguer claimed that a woman needed medical attention. When Dr. Bartels arrived, Feguer kidnapped him. Feguer killed Bartels in Illinois
, he was found in a cornfield with a single gunshot to the head. A few days later, Feguer was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama
, after trying to sell Dr. Bartels' car.
Authorities believe that Feguer had kidnapped and killed Dr. Bartels in order to gain access to any drugs that Bartels may have carried to treat patients. Because Feguer transported his hostage across state lines, federal charges were filed against Feguer. In his defense, Feguer claimed that a drug addict from Chicago
, whom Feguer met in Dubuque, had actually murdered Bartels. Feguer claimed that he killed the drug addict and dumped his body in the Mississippi River
. However, authorities could not find any evidence that this other person ever existed.
Feguer was tried and convicted in federal court for these crimes. He was sentenced to death by hanging
. Feguer submitted an appeal, which was denied. At that point, only President John F. Kennedy
could have commuted the death sentence. Iowa's governor, Harold Hughes
, a death penalty opponent, along with Feguer's attorney, contacted Kennedy to request clemency for Feguer. Kennedy thought that the crime was so brutal that he denied their request. (See the President's letter to the Attorney General.)
, Kansas
. He was brought back to Iowa because Leavenworth was not set up at the time to perform executions. He requested, for his last meal
, a single olive with the stone still in it.
On March 5, 1963, Feguer was brought to the Iowa State Penitentiary
at Fort Madison, Iowa
and placed in the state's death row to await execution. He remained there for the next ten days until his execution was carried out. He spent those ten days quietly; guards felt he was a model prisoner.
priest
. Between 4 and 5 in the morning, Feguer was given a new suit for his execution. Two guards escorted him to the gallows. At dawn on March 15, Victor Feguer was hanged for murdering Dr. Bartels. The witnesses included an Associated Press
journalist and John Ely
, then a member of the Iowa House of Representatives
, whose witnessing of the execution reinforced his opposition to the death penalty, leading him to work to abolish the state death penalty in Iowa, which occurred in 1965.
The body was removed by a local funeral home
. Victor Feguer's death certificate listed "fracture cervical spinal column" as the cause of death. Feguer was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Madison, wearing a second new suit that was provided for his burial. The olive stone from his last meal was found within the suit pocket.
, carried out on June 11, 2001, in Terre Haute, Indiana
.
Iowa abolished capital punishment
for all crimes in 1965. Over the years, several attempts had been made to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. This became a major issue in the 1994 election, as a young girl had recently been murdered, as well as in 2005 after the murder of another young girl. However, the legislature declined to reinstate the death penalty.
Previous Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack
made it clear that he would veto
legislation that would restore the death penalty, even if it would only be on a limited basis. , Iowa is one of 14 U.S. states to have completely abolished capital punishment
under any circumstances.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
before the moratorium on the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
, and the last person put to death in the state of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. While at the time the news media paid little attention to Victor Feguer or his execution, Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
's execution sparked renewed media interest in Feguer.
Background
Feguer was a drifter, native to the state of MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. In the summer of 1960, Feguer arrived in Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
, renting a room at a decrepit boarding house. Soon after arriving, Feguer began phoning physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s alphabetically from the local Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
. Dr. Alt wasn't at home, but Dr. Edward Bartels was. Feguer claimed that a woman needed medical attention. When Dr. Bartels arrived, Feguer kidnapped him. Feguer killed Bartels in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, he was found in a cornfield with a single gunshot to the head. A few days later, Feguer was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, after trying to sell Dr. Bartels' car.
Authorities believe that Feguer had kidnapped and killed Dr. Bartels in order to gain access to any drugs that Bartels may have carried to treat patients. Because Feguer transported his hostage across state lines, federal charges were filed against Feguer. In his defense, Feguer claimed that a drug addict from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, whom Feguer met in Dubuque, had actually murdered Bartels. Feguer claimed that he killed the drug addict and dumped his body in the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. However, authorities could not find any evidence that this other person ever existed.
Feguer was tried and convicted in federal court for these crimes. He was sentenced to death by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. Feguer submitted an appeal, which was denied. At that point, only President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
could have commuted the death sentence. Iowa's governor, Harold Hughes
Harold Hughes
Harold Everett Hughes was the 36th Governor of Iowa from 1963 until 1969; he had been a Republican earlier in his life. He also served as a Democratic United States Senator from 1969 until 1975.-Background:...
, a death penalty opponent, along with Feguer's attorney, contacted Kennedy to request clemency for Feguer. Kennedy thought that the crime was so brutal that he denied their request. (See the President's letter to the Attorney General.)
Feguer on Death Row at Fort Madison
Victor Feguer was held at the federal penitentiary at LeavenworthUnited States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
The United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. He was brought back to Iowa because Leavenworth was not set up at the time to perform executions. He requested, for his last meal
Last meal
The last meal is a customary part of a condemned prisoner's last day. Often, the day of, or before, the appointed time of execution, the prisoner receives a last meal, as well as religious rites, if they desire. In the United States, inmates generally may not ask for an alcoholic drink...
, a single olive with the stone still in it.
On March 5, 1963, Feguer was brought to the Iowa State Penitentiary
Iowa State Penitentiary
The Iowa State Penitentiary is an Iowa Department of Corrections maximum security prison for men located in the Lee County, Iowa community of Fort Madison....
at Fort Madison, Iowa
Fort Madison, Iowa
Fort Madison, situated on the Mississippi River, is a city in and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa, United States. The other county seat is Keokuk. The population was 10,715 at the 2000 census...
and placed in the state's death row to await execution. He remained there for the next ten days until his execution was carried out. He spent those ten days quietly; guards felt he was a model prisoner.
March 15, 1963
On March 14, 1963, Feguer sat in an all-night vigil with a Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. Between 4 and 5 in the morning, Feguer was given a new suit for his execution. Two guards escorted him to the gallows. At dawn on March 15, Victor Feguer was hanged for murdering Dr. Bartels. The witnesses included an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
journalist and John Ely
John Ely (Iowa politician)
John M. Ely, Jr. was an American Democratic politician, purchasing agent, and civil rights activist who served two terms in the Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa State Senate from 1961 to 1969. Ely was instrumental in abolishing capital punishment in Iowa.-Early years and education:Ely was...
, then a member of the Iowa House of Representatives
Iowa House of Representatives
The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency...
, whose witnessing of the execution reinforced his opposition to the death penalty, leading him to work to abolish the state death penalty in Iowa, which occurred in 1965.
The body was removed by a local funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
. Victor Feguer's death certificate listed "fracture cervical spinal column" as the cause of death. Feguer was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Madison, wearing a second new suit that was provided for his burial. The olive stone from his last meal was found within the suit pocket.
The aftermath
Victor Feguer would be the last person to be executed in Iowa. After Feguer's death, it would be nearly 40 years until the next federal execution – that of Timothy McVeighTimothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
, carried out on June 11, 2001, in Terre Haute, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
.
Iowa abolished capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for all crimes in 1965. Over the years, several attempts had been made to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. This became a major issue in the 1994 election, as a young girl had recently been murdered, as well as in 2005 after the murder of another young girl. However, the legislature declined to reinstate the death penalty.
Previous Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack
Tom Vilsack
Thomas James "Tom" Vilsack is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002...
made it clear that he would veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
legislation that would restore the death penalty, even if it would only be on a limited basis. , Iowa is one of 14 U.S. states to have completely abolished capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
under any circumstances.
See also
- Capital punishment by the United States federal government
- Capital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...