James Clyde Arwood (September 7, 1901 – August 14, 1943) was the only person executed by the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He was sentenced to death after his conviction of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ing William Pugh, a federal agent, during a raid of Arwood's illegal still. Arwood was executed in the electric chair at age 41 in Tennessee State Penitentiary in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Arwood was the last federal inmate executed under the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Early life

James Clyde Arwood was born in Ripley, Tennessee, on September 7, 1901, to James Monroe Arwood and Dora Arwood (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Akin). According to his death certificate, Arwood was employed as a barber. He was married to Bessie Arwood, although they divorced sometime before his execution.

Murder of J.W. Lunsford

On August 2, 1931, Deputy Sheriffs James Wyatt Lunsford and C.A. Borders went to the home of Arwood's brother, Cornelius Arwood, near Ripley, Tennessee, following a report that Clyde Arwood had beaten Cornelius's wife severely enough to break her arm in retaliation for her not giving him a pistol. At the time, Arwood was heavily intoxicated. Lunsford and Borders attempted to arrest Arwood, but Arwood resisted arrest. After some time, Arwood agreed to speak to Lunsford, but as Lunsford approached him, Arwood shot him with a shotgun. Lunsford remained in the hospital for several days, during which his left arm developed

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

and had to be amputated. On Wednesday, August 5, Lunsford died from his injuries. Arwood was arrested for Lunsford's death and held in the Lauderdale County Jail. He was charged with Lunsford's murder on Thursday, August 6. On June 28, 1932, Arwood was convicted of Lunsford's murder and sentenced to 21 years in state prison. On August 24, 1938, Governor Gordon Browning commuted Arwood's sentence to 10–20 years in prison, and he was released on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

effective that day. Arwood violated his parole about a year later, leading to his return to prison on either August 31 or October 31, 1939, but he was paroled again on February 16, 1940. Around the time of Arwood's execution, Lunsford was repeatedly misidentified in newspapers as "Wyde Lunsford."

Murder of federal agent William Pugh

Following Arwood's parole, Arwood moved back to Lauderdale County and began operating an illegal still, where he manufactured

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

. Approximately one year later, on November 21, 1941, federal agents arrived at Arwood's home in west

Lauderdale County, Tennessee Lauderdale County is a county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Tennessee, with its border the Mississippi River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,143. Its county seat is Ripley. Since the antebellum years, it has be ...

, to arrest him for operating an unlicensed still. Before completing the arrest, Arwood requested to go back inside his house so he could bid farewell to his aged mother. Authorities allowed him to go back inside. Arwood reemerged from his house with a shotgun. He fired at William M. Pugh, a federal alcohol tax unit investigator and former federal

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

agent from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and struck Pugh point-blank in the face. The shotgun wound mortally wounded Pugh, and although emergency medical services were summoned, Pugh died either on the way to the hospital, or within minutes of his arrival. After the shooting, Arwood fled into the nearby woods, evading detection for hours while a posse searched the woods and swamps for him. Arwood later returned to his house and barricaded himself inside. At approximately 9:30 pm, the posse returned to Arwood's house and found the door locked. Realizing Arwood was inside, the posse opened fire on the house. Arwood fled to the attic as officers in the posse launched tear gas bombs into the house. Eventually, officers in the posse ran out of tear gas bombs and had to retrieve more; as their cars returned at approximately 3:30 am with more tear gas bombs, Arwood surrendered. He had not been injured. An officer later said, "We fired hundreds and hundreds of bullets into the house from all angles and never hit him. How we missed him is more than I can understand. He's a tough man."

Indictment and trial

After his arrest, Arwood was interned in a jail in Shelby County. He was denied bond at a preliminary hearing. Prior to Arwood's case, Tennessee had never seen a federal murder trial. Prior to 1934, only cases involving officers employed with the United States

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and

Customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

fell under U.S. federal jurisdiction. A new federal law after 1934 allowed cases involving all federal employees to fall under federal jurisdiction, meaning Arwood was eligible to be charged with murder in the West Tennessee Federal Courts, rather than in a state court. On Friday, November 28, a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

indicted Arwood for the

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

of William Pugh and three counts related to operating his illegal still and making illegal mash. The three counts related to the still carried a maximum punishment of six years imprisonment, while the first-degree murder charge carried a mandatory death sentence. After Arwood pleaded not guilty, his trial date was set at January 5, 1942.

Trial

Arwood's trial took place in January 1942 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, in Memphis. Witnesses called to the stand at the trial included other federal agents who were with Pugh before and during the murder, as well as Pugh's widowed wife. One of the federal agents who was with Pugh, James Howes, was the principal witness; he described evidence linking Arwood to the illegal still, including a watch they found which Arwood's mother confirmed as his. Howes also testified to having observed Arwood chopping trees in the nearby woods on an earlier occasion, suggesting Arwood lived near the area. Another federal employee, Howard Taylor, displayed Pugh's daily reports wherein Pugh surmised that Arwood owned the still. Another witness at the trial was Arwood's 70-year-old mother. During her testimony, Arwood's mother detailed his chronic

drunkenness Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main p ...

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, and patterns of strange behavior. She also testified that she was in the house in which Arwood barricaded himself after Pugh's murder and that she was almost hit by the gunfire from the posse outside. At one point during her testimony, she collapsed on the stand, prompting Arwood to break down in tears, in contrast to the stoicism he had maintained during the other trial proceedings. The testimony of Arwood's mother, as well as the testimonies of other relatives corroborating Arwood's alcoholism and strange behavior, went towards his defense strategy of entering a plea of temporary insanity, wherein Arwood confessed to murdering Pugh but maintained that he was legally not of sound mind during the killing. After a three-day trial, the jury rejected Arwood's insanity plea and convicted him of Pugh's murder on January 11, 1942. They did not offer a recommendation that Arwood be given mercy, making a death sentence mandatory. Arwood's attorney, Bailey Walsh, motioned for a new trial; a meeting was therefore scheduled for January 26, 1942, so Arwood's attorneys could argue in favor of a new trial or for a judge to challenge the jury's failure to recommend mercy for Arwood. During the January 26 hearing,

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

Marion Speed Boyd rejected Arwood's motion for a new trial and formally sentenced Arwood to death. Arwood was reportedly emotionless during his sentencing. The execution was first scheduled to take place on June 1, 1942.

Appeals, imprisonment, and execution

Appeals delayed the execution of Arwood's sentence for approximately one year. After the motion for a new trial was denied and Arwood was formally sentenced to death, he and his attorneys appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. By a 2–1 vote, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Arwood's conviction and death sentence, with Judges Xen Hicks and

Florence E. Allen Florence Ellinwood Allen (March 23, 1884 – September 12, 1966) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was the first woman to serve on a state supreme court and one of the first two wom ...

affirming. The lone dissent came from Judge Elwood Hamilton, who questioned Pugh's authority to be on Arwood's property at the time, as well as Pugh's authority to conduct the arrest preceding his murder. Until shortly before the execution was to take place, Arwood was housed at the Shelby County Jail; afterwards, he was transported to the Tennessee State Penitentiary in

, where Tennessee's execution chamber was located at the time. Arwood personally wrote to

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

and

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

requesting clemency and a

commutation Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

of his death sentence. Weeks prior to the execution, U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle informed Arwood that President

had denied clemency, allowing the execution to move forward. Tennessee State Penitentiary

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

Thomas P. Gore described Arwood as a good prisoner and that Arwood made very few requests during his time on death row, only asking for a daily copy of the local newspaper so he could keep up with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

news. He also requested that his civilian clothes be given to his brothers following his execution, opting to wear

prison garb A prison uniform is the standardized clothes worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing. A prison uniform serves the purpose to make prison ...

instead. Arwood spent his last minutes with his brothers, who departed only a few minutes before the execution took place. Arwood walked to the execution chamber at 5:30 a.m., and he was strapped into the electric chair at 5:35 a.m. After walking into the execution chamber, Arwood said, "Goodbye, friends." When asked for a formal final statement, Arwood only replied, "That's all." The prison physician pronounced him dead five minutes later, at 5:40 a.m. The execution was supervised by Charles W. Miles, the

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

for the western district of Tennessee, who was assisted by Tennessee State Penitentiary Deputy Warden Glenn Swafford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arwood, Clyde 1901 births 1943 deaths American people executed for murdering police officers People from Ripley, Tennessee 20th-century executions of American people 20th-century executions by the United States federal government People convicted of murder by the United States federal government People convicted of murder by Tennessee People executed by the United States federal government by electric chair Recipients of American gubernatorial clemency