Caryl Chessman — American Celebrity born on May 27, 1921, died on May 02, 1960
Caryl Whittier Chessman was a convicted robber, kidnapper and rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The "first modern American executed for a non-lethal kidnapping", Chessman was convicted under a loosely interpreted "Little Lindbergh law" – later repealed, but not retroactively – that defined kidnapping as a capital offense under certain circumstances. His case attracted worldwide attention, and helped propel the movement to abolish capital punishment in California... (wikipedia)
