Wilbert Lee Evans

Biography

Wilbert Lee Evans (January 20, 1946 – October 17, 1990) was an American convict who was executed in Virginia's electric chair for the murder of 47-year-old Deputy Sheriff William Gene Truesdale in Alexandria, Virginia. Truesdale's murder occurred in 1981 during Evans's attempted escape from custody, as Evans was accused of other crimes in North Carolina, including a previous murder, and had been temporarily transported to Virginia to testify in another man's extradition hearing there. Evans's execution was controversial due to several factors, including his documented good behavior and rehabilitation behind bars; trial errors and prosecutorial misconduct that human rights organizations, death penalty abolitionists, and Evans's attorneys argued should have resulted in a retrial or a reduced sentence; and the gruesome nature of Evans's death, as reporters who witnessed his execution in Virginia's electric chair described it as botched, and The Virginian-Pilot called Evans's execution "one of Virginia's worst.

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