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after being charged with passing bad checks. His father
Columbus Pixley said he had dropped out of high school and had never held a job. He served two years, mostly overseas. He was described as "slightly built" and "nervous" and as a transient and dishwasher. There was a previous warrant out for his
347:
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Circuit Court Judge Robert McAuliffe, who were on vacation. McAuliffe and his wife were elsewhere in the hotel taking in a show. When they returned to their room, they found Pixley lying on the floor. He appeared to be drunk, but may have been feigning; McAuliffe said at the trial he had not smelled
264:
interviews. He said he remembered drinking earlier in the evening, but could not remember entering the hotel or killing the girls. His court-appointed attorney, Robert
Hufsmith, added that Pixley remembered being in the company of another person earlier that evening, but that his mind was "blank
302:
According to genealogical research, Robert and Betty McAuliffe divorced sometime after the murders. McAuliffe remarried
Charlotte Olivia Moon Branch and had a son, Jon David McAuliffe, born on January 21, 1974, in Chicago. Robert died on April 1, 1998, of a heart attack. Betty McAuliffe died on
276:, who pronounced him sane, but an "incurable sociopath" at the trial, adding that "it meant a lot more to Pixley to kill the girls while they were awake." At this, Robert McAuliffe got up from his seat and attempted to assault Pixley before being restrained.
217:, two weeks before the murders. He had been living in a trailer with two employees of the hotel where the murders took place, David Starling and Orval Edwards. Starling was described as having had prior knowledge of Pixley's violent tendencies.
290:
date was announced. Robert McAuliffe told him "laugh some more, you animal." Although an appeal was filed to change his sentence to life imprisonment, he said he did not want an appeal. He was executed by lethal gas at the
234:
alcohol. McAuliffe grabbed Pixley and pinned him to the floor. Police officer James Jensen heard Mrs. McAuliffe screaming and rushed to the scene, where McAuliffe shouted "My God, this man has killed my babies."
927:
192:. He was executed December 10, 1965, in Wyoming for the murder of two young girls in August 1964. He was the last person executed in Wyoming until 1992, and the first of only two after
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Their older daughters, Debbie, 12, and Cindy, 8 lay dead in their beds. The girls had been sexually assaulted, Debbie had been bludgeoned with a rock, and Cindy beaten and strangled.
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The McAuliffe sisters were buried together in a single casket. Their parents later filed suit against the hotel in order to pay for the surviving child's psychiatric treatment.
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The psychiatrist went on to describe Pixley as "one of the sickest we've ever seen sociopathically", and that the odds of him being rehabilitated were "absolutely nil".
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The youngest child, six-year-old Susan, was unharmed. Initially described as asleep during the crime, she may actually have witnessed the assault on her sisters.
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As Pixley was taken by police from the hotel, a crowd outside called for him to be lynched. He was taken to a jail in another town and then to the
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on
December 10, 1965. He took the longest time to die of any person ever executed in the Wyoming gas chamber. Until the execution of
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heritage in explaining why he "couldn't" have done such a thing. Later, Pixley asked to make a statement, and was examined using
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Pixley had apparently climbed a stack of wood and scaled the rear wall of the hotel, removing a screen to get in at the window.
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Initially, Pixley only told police "I didn't do it." Hotel employee
Richard Southern testified that Pixley cited his
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arrest in his home town on a charge of larceny. He was accused and cleared of being in possession of a stolen car in
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On the night of August 7, 1964, Pixley broke into a room of the Wort Motor Hotel in
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since he left that person." Pixley later admitted to the murders, but pleaded
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Pixley pleaded guilty to first degree murder for killing Debbie and was
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188:(January 29, 1943 – December 10, 1965) was a convicted murderer from
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in 1992, Pixley was the last person to be put to death in
Wyoming.
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November 28, 2010. Susan McAuliffe married and had five children.
534:"Pixley v. State, 406 P.2d 662 | Casetext Search + Citator"
767:
McAuliffe genealogy at City-Net, page found 2015-03-21.
731:
Genealogical research on the McAuliffe-Dowd families
272:Pixley was examined by Dr. William Karn Jr. of the
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398:"Ex-Soldier Held in Assault Deaths of 2 Sisters",
928:American people convicted of child sexual abuse
486:"$ 250,000 suit filed against Wyoming hotel",
362:"Former Soldier Held in Deaths of Two Sisters"
8:
632:"I'm an Indian--I couldn't have done that."
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463:"$ 250,000 suit filed against Wyoming hotel"
366:The Fredericksburg, Virginia Free Lance-Star
827:Executions carried out in the United States
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908:20th-century executions of American people
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943:People executed by Wyoming by gas chamber
561:"Pixley Facing Murder Charges in Wyoming"
511:"Police Hold Youth in Killing of 2 Girls"
381:"Alleged killer of 2 girls changes jails"
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617:Pixley Facing Murder Charges in Wyoming
340:"Slain Girls' Kin Returns From Wyoming"
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16:American executed murderer (1943–1965)
938:People convicted of murder by Wyoming
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918:American people executed for murder
713:"Appeal Prepared on Death Sentence"
441:"2 Girls Slain, Judge Nabs Suspect"
948:People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
903:20th-century executions by Wyoming
650:Accused Murderer Says Memory Blank
418:"Father Testifies at Pixley Trial"
318:List of people executed in Wyoming
204:Born Andrew Armandoz Benavidez in
14:
923:American people convicted of rape
789:Executions carried out in Wyoming
777:Obituary for Betty Jane McAuliffe
634:Oregon Man Being Tried in Wyoming
346:, August 10, 1964, archived from
267:not guilty by reason of insanity
933:Executed people from New Mexico
898:20th-century American criminals
695:"Oregon Man Sentenced To Death"
286:. He started laughing when the
913:American murderers of children
1:
313:Capital punishment in Wyoming
836:George York and James Latham
229:, occupied by the family of
736:September 27, 2011, at the
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600:"Sisters Together Forever"
293:Wyoming State Penitentiary
248:Wyoming State Penitentiary
75:Wyoming State Penitentiary
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385:The Eugene Register-Guard
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42:Andrew Armandoz Benavidez
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740:, page found 2011-07-02.
652:, in the Washington, NC
586:"The Bulletin (Bend, OR)
582:"Pixley held in slaying"
565:"The Bulletin (Bend, OR)
91:Execution by gas chamber
676:. 1965-02-04. p. 7
488:The Bulletin (Bend, OR)
467:The Bulletin (Bend, OR)
619:. In The Bend, Oregon
274:Wyoming State Hospital
206:Las Cruces, New Mexico
56:Las Cruces, New Mexico
717:Eugene Register-Guard
699:Eugene Register-Guard
445:The Milwaukee Journal
250:for better security.
215:Davenport, Washington
674:The Billings Gazette
604:The Spokesman-Review
515:The Pittsburgh Press
208:, Pixley joined the
143:Debbie McAuliffe, 12
797:Cleveland Brown Jr.
752:"Untitled Document"
640:, February 3, 1965.
350:on January 31, 2013
119:First degree murder
87:Cause of death
856:December 10, 1965
809:December 10, 1965
779:, Chicago Tribune.
719:, 12 February 1965
284:sentenced to death
145:Cindy McAuliffe, 8
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859:Succeeded by
812:Succeeded by
800:November 17, 1944
701:, 4 February 1965
656:, August 8, 1964.
654:Morning Star-News
623:, August 8, 1964.
424:, 3 February 1965
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67:December 10, 1965
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850:Andrew Pixley –
833:Preceded by
819:January 22, 1992
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262:sodium pentothal
227:Jackson, Wyoming
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125:Criminal penalty
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79:Rawlins, Wyoming
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52:January 29, 1943
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760:. Retrieved
756:the original
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348:the original
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194:World War II
185:
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69:(1965-12-10)
893:1965 deaths
888:1943 births
882:Categories
762:2011-07-02
680:2022-04-18
543:2022-04-12
324:References
200:Early life
48:1943-01-29
288:execution
210:U.S. Army
866:Oklahoma
734:Archived
670:"Pixley"
621:Bulletin
307:See also
231:Illinois
169:State(s)
101:Executed
852:Wyoming
221:Murders
174:Wyoming
158:Country
140:Victims
135:Details
840:Kansas
81:, U.S.
58:, U.S.
129:Death
150:Date
64:Died
38:Born
884::
864:–
838:–
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50:)
46:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
