Ada R. LeBoeuf, executed

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She was having a heated affair with the family doctor. Together they hired a handyman to shoot Ada's husband. The handyman was sentenced to life, but Ada and her lover was sentenced to death: "You, Ada Bonner Leboeuf and you T. E. Dreher, are to be hanged by the neck until you are dead". While awaiting her execution Ada had a rocking chair brought into her cell, unlimited visitation rights and freshly ironed summer clothes.

The gallows room was a rectangular 12 by 18 feet with a metal gallows build in, all painted white, and sourrounded by cells. On February 1, 1929 it was spotlessly clean. The gallows trap was railed by metal pipes and on a landing leading to the Ada's cell. At ten minutes after noon Ada's death march began. The gallows trap was 15 feet from her cell. She was dressed in a pink housedress. Blindfolded and limply leaning on the arm of the jailer, Ada stepped out on the trap where the hangman began his work in jerky movements. The jailer tied her skirt around her knees to prevent it from "parachuting" immodestly during her fall. The hangman lashed her ancles together.

When she stepped on the trap, Ada clapsed her hands before her in prayer. The Sheriff was forced to step forward and move them behind her so that the hangman could tie them there. In a high pitched, thembling voice she implored "Don't let me hang there too long. Don't make me suffer any more than I have to. Oh God. Isn't this a terrible thing? Oh God, who can do this thing? It is worse than murder itself" Then came the hood black with white tape and fastened by a safety pin, muffling her voice, as the hangman adjusted the noose around her neck: "Oh. Oh, that rope's too tight" The jailer reassured her it wasn't. "Yes it is" Ada insisted. The jailer told her to stand up, but she said she could not. The jailer had to support her until the moment before the trap was sprung.

Ada's body was now swinging in the rope. The priest started to pray. Finally two physicians came forward with their stethoscopes, lifting her eyelids and making other tests for life. They pronounced her dead, and after the requires interval, the Sheriff cut the rope. She was carried out, and later the attending physicians insisted there had been no pain to her.

Confess Luring Husband to Death; Franklin, LA - July 8; The New York Times, July 9, 1927

Trapper an Enigma in Murder Plot; Morgan City, LA - Jan 9; The New York Times, July 10, 1927

Three Arrainged in Louisiana Case; Franklin, LA - July 13; The New York Times, July 14, 1927

State Scores Point in Louisiana Trial; Franklin, LA - Jul 1929; The New York Times, July 30, 1927

Argue on Confessions at LeBoeuf Trial; Franklin, LA - July 30 (AP); The New York Times, July 31, 1927

Admits Confession in Louisiana Trial; Franklin, LA - Aug. 1 (AP) The New York Times, Aug. 2, 1927

Love Affair is Aired in Louisiana Trial; Franklin, LA - Aug 1 (AP) The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1927

Louisiana Couple Get Death Verdict; Franklin, LA - Aug 6 (AP); The New York Times, Aug. 7, 1927

Denies LeBoeuf Slayers Retrial; Franklin, LA - Apr 9 (AP); The New York Times, Apr. 10, 1928

Bars Clemency to LeBoeuf Slayers; Franklin, LA - Dec 15 (AP); The New York Times, Dec. 16, 1928

Try to Save Couple Facing the Gallows; New Orleans - Jan. 3 (AP); The New York Times, Jan. 4, 1929

Hanging in Doubt; Judges Disagree; New Orleans 0 Jan 4 (AP); The New York Times, Jan. 5, 1929

Escape Gallows After Day of Doubt; Franklin, LA - Jan 5 (AP); The New York Times, Jan. 6, 1929

Court Again Refuses to Save Mrs. LeBoeuf; Franklin, LA - Jan. 28 (AP); The New York Times, Jan. 29, 1929

Slayers of LeBoeuf Face Hanging Today; Franklin, LA - Jan 31(AP); The New York Times, Feb. 1, 1929

Dreher Left Note Denying All Guilt; Franklin, LA - Feb 2; The New York Times, Feb. 3, 1929