Execute Like It’s 1908
By Dale Brumfield
In 1908, Virginia legislators patted themselves on the back for “progressive” law #398, introduced by Henrico Delegate Throckmorton, titled “An Act to establish a permanent place in the State penitentiary at Richmond Virginia for the execution of felons upon whom the death penalty is to be imposed, and to change the mode of execution so that the death sentence shall be by electricity,” and passed March 16 of that year.