Major Watt Espy, Jr. (March 2, 1933 – August 13, 2009) was a researcher and expert on capital punishment in the United States. Espy, a resident of

Headland, Alabama Headland is the largest city in Henry County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Dothan metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 4,973, up from 4,510 in the 2010 census. Ray Marler is the current mayor. History James Joshua Head ( ...

, attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

where he was a member of the

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...

fraternity. Even in college he had garnered a reputation as an engaging speaker, serving as toastmaster for the 30th anniversary banquet of the chapter, held in 1955. He graduated in 1957. Espy was an author, with John Ortiz Smykla, of ''The Espy Files'', a database of executions carried out in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and preceding territories from 1608, which is the most complete source of data on the issue, identifying 15,487 people put to death. He began his research in the 1970s when he was a salesman, working with everything from cemetery plots to security systems. While making calls he would stop at a prison or courthouse for information. He became a full-time researcher in 1977. Espy became a death penalty opponent due to his concerns about racial bias, innocence and lack of deterrence. Espy served as a citizen witness to exactly one execution - that of

John Louis Evans John Louis Evans III (January 4, 1950 – April 22, 1983) was the first inmate to be executed by the state of Alabama after the United States reinstituted the death penalty in 1976. The manner of his execution is frequently cited by opponents of ...

in the Alabama electric chair on April 22, 1983. Espy died aged 76 on August 13, 2009.

References

External links

Headland Journal; Historian's Death Penalty Obsession
(

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, October 21, 1987)
M. Watt Espy, America's Foremost Historian of Executions, DiesRESOURCES: Legacy of Watt Espy's Research Lives on After His Death (Death Penalty Information Center)
1933 births 2009 deaths Capital punishment in the United States People from Henry County, Alabama American salespeople {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub