Victor Feguer
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Victor Feguer (1935 - March 15, 1963) was the last federal inmate in the United States before Timothy McVeigh to be executed, and the last person put to death in the state of Iowa. While at the time the news media paid little attention to Victor Feguer or his execution, in the days leading to McVeigh's execution, news media showed renewed interest in Feguer because of the fact that he was the last federal inmate executed before McVeigh.
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Background
Feguer was a native of Michigan who was a drifter. In the summer of 1960, Feguer arrived in Dubuque, Iowa. He rented a room at a decrepit boarding house.
Soon after arriving, he phoned Doctor Edward Bartels, claiming that a woman needed medical attention. When Dr. Bartels arrived, Feguer kidnapped him. Feguer killed Bartels, a 34 year old father of two, in Illinois, a single gunshot to the head. A few days later, Feguer was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after trying to sell Dr. Bartels' car.
It is believed that Feguer had chosen Dr. Bartels at random from the local Yellow Pages. Authorities believe that Feguer had kidnapped and killed Dr. Bartels in order to gain access to any drugs that Bartels may have carried to treat patients. Because Feguer crossed state lines, federal charges were filed against Feguer.
In his defense, Feguer claimed that a drug addict from Chicago, whom Feguer met in Dubuque, had actually murdered Bartels. Feguer claimed that he killed the drug addict and dumped his body in the Mississippi River. However, authorities could not find any evidence that this other person ever existed.
Feguer was tried and convicted in federal court for these crimes. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Feguer submitted an appeal, which was denied. At that point, only President John F. Kennedy could have commuted the death sentence. Iowa’s Governor Harold Hughes, along with Feguer's attorney, contacted Kennedy to request clemency for Feguer. Kennedy thought that the crime was so brutal that he denied their request.
Feguer's Last Days
Feguer on Death Row at Fort Madison
Victor Feguer was held at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. He was brought back to Iowa because Leavenworth was not set up at the time to perform executions.
On March 5, 1963, Feguer was brought to the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison, and placed in the state's death row to await execution. He remained there for the next ten days until his execution was carried out. He spent the next ten days quietly; guards felt he was a model prisoner.
March 15, 1963
On March 14, 1963, Feguer sat in an all-night vigil with a Catholic priest. Between 4 and 5 in the morning, Feguer was given a new suit for his execution. Two guards escorted Feguer to the gallows. At dawn on March 15, Victor Feguer was hanged for murdering Dr. Bartels.
The body was removed by a local funeral home. Victor Feguer's death certificate listed "fracture cervical spinal column" as the cause of death. Feguer was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Madison. He was buried in a second new suit that was provided for his burial. In the suit pocket was an olive pit from Feguer's last meal.
The Aftermath
Victor Feguer would be the last person in Iowa to be executed. After Feguer's death, it would be nearly 40 years until the next federal execution — that of Timothy McVeigh. (That execution was carried out in Terre Haute, Indiana.)
Soon after Feguer's execution Iowa abolished capital punishment. Over the years, several attempts had been made to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. This became a major issue in the 1994 election, as a young girl had recently been murdered, as well as 2005 after the murder of another young girl. However the legislature declined to reinstate the death penalty. With the election of Democrat Tom Vilsack as Governor, no further attempts to revive the death penalty have so far been made. Iowa remains one of 11 states that forbids capital punishment.
External Links
- Court TV on Feguer (http://www.courttv.com/news/mcveigh_special/federalexecutions_ctv.html)
- The Smoking Gun's Archive of Documents Relating to the Feguer Execution (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/feguer1.html)
- ABC News on Feguer (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/LASTEXECUTION.html)