Execution of York and Latham

The execution of George Ronald York and James Douglas Latham followed Kansas Governor William Avery’s refusal to grant clemency: the two men were hanged on June 22, 1965. The account places their deaths in the continuing sequence of executions under Avery’s administration, while providing no further details of the hanging itself.

Clemency and Timing

Avery had earlier refused clemency for Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, saying that intervention would not be in the best interest of the people of Kansas. Two months later, he also denied the clemency appeals of York and Latham. The narrative establishes the repeated decision to leave the death sentences in force, but does not specify the grounds of York and Latham’s appeals.

The Execution

The account gives June 22, 1965, as the date York and Latham were hanged. It does not describe the location, procedure, or circumstances of their executions, so the event is presented chiefly through its date and the preceding clemency decision.

Place in the Narrative

York and Latham’s executions appear in a brief reference following the account of the appeals and impending executions of Hickock and Smith. The juxtaposition connects the cases through Avery’s refusal of clemency and the continuation of capital punishment in Kansas, without suggesting that the cases or their legal arguments were identical.