Roscoe Jackson

Roscoe Jackson (May 11, 1901 – May 21, 1937) was an American criminal who was the last person to be publicly executed in the United States. Jackson, a habitual criminal, confessed to the murder of Pearl Bozarth, a traveling salesman, with the motive being robbery, as Jackson had stolen Bozarth's money and car. Jackson was convicted of Bozarth's murder and hanged in Galena, Missouri.

Early life Roscoe Jackson was born in Howards Ridge, Missouri, on May 11, 1901, to Andrew J. and Matilda (Kyle) Jackson. As the eldest son, Roscoe worked on the family farm with his father until he was 17 years old. He then left home and lost contact with his family as he drifted westward across the country.

Jackson married Dona Ellison, a native of Howards Ridge, and had four children with her, all of whom were still young at the time of Jackson's execution. By the time of Jackson's death, he and Ellison were estranged, and she and the couple's four children had moved to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.

Jackson's first run-in with the law came as a teenager. Jackson and another boy fought over a girl, with Jackson on the losing end. Afterwards, Jackson began carrying a gun and bragging about it, which resulted in his arrest and conviction of illegally carrying a concealed weapon. During one of Jackson's stints in the Ozark County jail, Jackson saw another man's dog and called it over to his cell, after which Jackson doused the dog with an accelerant, tossed a lit match onto the dog, and set it on fire. The dog ran away and accidentally set fire to a hotel building before a citizen killed the dog with a shotgun to "end its misery". This incident earned Jackson a reputation in the area as a "brutal man". Bozarth gave Jackson a lift, and the men stopped in Forsyth for the evening. There, Bozarth paid for Jackson to have a meal and paid for his lodging for the night at Shadow Rock Camp.

The trial began on December 10, 1934, with jury selection and voir dire, although witnesses were not called to the stand until 3:00pm. The next day, at 12:00pm, the jurors began deliberation.

One of the witnesses to the hanging was Howard Bozarth, the son of the murder victim Pearl Bozarth. Jackson's father, Andrew J. Jackson, had made the trip from Howard's Ridge, near Gainesville, Missouri, for his son's execution, although he did not witness the hanging.

He then turned to face the crowd in the enclosure and was placed in the center of the trap. Deputy Moore placed the black hood over his face, Sheriff Simmons placed the noose around his neck, while other officers strapped his legs together. Three men were hanged in the state in 1937 prior to Governor Stark's bill, those being Fred Adams in Callaway County, on April 2, 1937; Dudley Barr on the same date and at the same time as Jackson's execution (albeit inside the Jackson County courthouse), at 6:00am on May 21, 1937; and Roscoe Jackson. Barr and Jackson were the last people hanged in Missouri, and the state carried out its first gas chamber execution on March 4, 1938. In total, Missouri used the gas chamber on eight men in 1938.