death_date birth_place image_size birth_date known_for image article_title name
06 january 1939 pueblo , colorado , united states 150px 15 april 1915 falsely accused of rape and murder joe arridy.jpg joe arridy
 joe arridy
joe arridy

joe arridy -lrb- april 15 , 1915 -- january 6 , 1939 -rrb- was an american man with an intellectual disability who was executed for rape and murder and posthumously granted a pardon .
arridy was sentenced to death for the murder and rape of a schoolgirl in his hometown of pueblo , colorado .
he confessed to murdering the girl and assaulting her sister .
due to the sensational nature of the crime , precautions were taken to keep him from being hanged by vigilante justice .
his sentence was executed after multiple stays on january 6 , 1939 .
arridy was the first colorado prisoner posthumously pardoned in january 2011 by then colorado governor bill ritter , a former district attorney , after research had shown that arridy was likely not in pueblo when the crime happened and had been coerced into confessing .
