Published in the Gainesville Times January 24, 1989, Retired Detective and Criminology Professor Alex Taylor electrifies the history of Old Sparky — the electric chair. What most people today do not realize is that this form of execution remains an option in several states, including Tennessee, which last used their electric chair on Nicholas Todd…… Continue reading Won’t Leave You Hanging
Tag: Florida
Laughing Matter? Sheer Lunacy!
Crime scenes a laughing matter? Hold that thought. Success! I am pleased to say that, after 15 months’ thumb-twiddling in Covid Purgatory, I was finally able to access the Gainesville Times archive and retrieve the final 25 columns written by my father. Maybe that’s begging the question a tad. The Times’ archive had been relocated…… Continue reading Laughing Matter? Sheer Lunacy!
The Mafia—Not Forgettinaboutit II
Mafia Part II Perhaps the best trailing nugget from this week’s column is Joseph Petrosino. Here, we have an Oscar-worthy narrative replete with a tragic, unlikely, and fortuitous embryogenesis. It was followed by a plucky and eccentric career at the infancy of modern law enforcement. Although parts of Joe’s Mafia-busting undertakings have been featured long…… Continue reading The Mafia—Not Forgettinaboutit II