Anthony Chebatoris (1898 – July 8, 1938), was the only person executed for a capital crime in Michigan since it became a state in 1837. He was tried and executed by the federal authorities. Michigan abolished the death penalty over 90 years before his execution.
Chebatoris's first conviction for a crime was in 1918 for armed robbery in Detroit, and in 1927 he was arrested for violating the Dyer Act in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1928, he went to pri...
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Anthony Chebatoris (1898 – July 8, 1938), was the only person executed for a capital crime in Michigan since it became a state in 1837. He was tried and executed by the federal authorities. Michigan abolished the death penalty over 90 years before his execution.
Chebatoris's first conviction for a crime was in 1918 for armed robbery in Detroit, and in 1927 he was arrested for violating the Dyer Act in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1928, he went to prison at Marquette for armed robbery.
In 1937, Chebatoris and fellow prison inmate, Jack Gracy, made plans to rob the Chemical State Savings Bank located in downtown Midland, Michigan. On September 29, Gracey entered the bank first with a sawed-off shotgun hiding under his long coat. Chebatoris followed Gracey into the bank. Gracey approached bank president Clarence Macomber and shoved the shot gun into his ribs. Macomber and Gracey grappled with the weapon. Macomber forced the gun down while trying to push Gracey towards the front of the bank....
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