Today is Tuesday, June 16, 2020. On this day in 1944, 14 year old George Stinni became the youngest American to be executed in the 20th century.

But he may have been killed for a crime he didn't even commit.

Welcome to today in true crime, a parcast original. Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes,

listener discretion is advised.

Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13.

Today we're covering the execution of George Stinni. Let's go back to South Carolina on June 16,

1944. When the prison guards came to take George Stinni to the electric chair, they didn't need to worry about the prisoner putting up any resistance.

But it wasn't because he was resigned to his fate. It was because he was too small to fight back. Standing at only five feet in one inch, the 14 year old

weighed a mere 95 pounds. He hardly looked the part of a murderer, but he had confessed to killing two little

girls, and now he was going to pay for his crimes, except he may not have actually killed them.

84 days earlier, the bodies of 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames and 11-year-old Betty June Binnaker

were discovered in a shallow ditch in the woods outside of Alkaloo South Carolina.

Aside from the girls young ages, their deaths caused a stir because they were white,

and their bodies were found in the so-called black side of town.

Upon investigation, the police learned that George Stinni was one of the last people to see the girls

alive.

They were looking for wildflowers, and George told the girls where to find them.

It's not entirely clear, but that seems to be the only reason Stini fell under suspicion.

He was taken in for questioning where the police grilled him

without a lawyer present. At the time, the right to counsel throughout an entire criminal

process hadn't been established, so the police decided to talk to the frightened

boy completely alone. His parents weren't even there. Under interrogation, Stini admitted he murdered the two girls.

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