Biography
John Montjoy was a Black defendant sentenced to death for rape in Covington. The August 25 dispatch describes a Fair Trial Committee seeking commutation and attorneys Conrad Magrish and William E. Wehrman pursuing federal habeas corpus. The committee alleged omitted medical evidence, a coerced confession and misleading advice to plead guilty; these are defense allegations, not independent judicial findings. A hearing was planned for the following day. The article establishes neither a granted new trial, commutation, actual execution nor a physical release. Daily Worker, August 26, 1936, page 5. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1936/v13-n205-NY-aug-26-1936-DW-Q.pdf
Page 3’s May 24 Cincinnati dispatch prints John “Pete” Montjoy and reports that Kenton County Circuit Judge John Northcutt refused a new trial after an all-white jury’s rape conviction on Irene Cummings’s accusation. The appeal was before Kentucky’s Court of Appeals, and the ILD called for protests to Judge Rogers Clay. The May 1935 report describes a threatened hanging, before the later execution. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n125-NAT-may-25-1935-DW-Q.pdf
The August 18, 1936 Daily Worker, page 6 identifies him as John “Pete” Montjoy and reports an investigation by Dr. George Hedger and Mrs. Mary D. Brite of the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP representative James T. Whitney and correspondent Edward Leavitt. The committee alleged a forced confession, exclusion of Black people from jury panels, improper defense by appointed lawyers and no medical examination of the complainant despite an opportunity. Its request for commutation and the execution scheduled for August 21 are not proof that commutation or execution occurred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1936/v13-n198-NY-aug-18-1936-DW-Q.pdf#page=6
The June 1 Cincinnati dispatch on page 3 documents the ILD's effort to secure joint ACLU and NAACP defense: Mary D. Brite telegraphed Roger Baldwin, Theodore Berry was helping draft a petition with Edward Leavitt, and the appeal sought relief from Kentucky's Court of Appeals. The existing death sentence is reported, while no granted appeal, actual execution or release is established. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n132-NAT-jun-03-DW-Q.pdf
An Associated Press dispatch in The Evening Independent of December 17, 1937 reports that John Montjoy died on the gallows at Covington, Kentucky, that day. This later report establishes the outcome after the appeals and clemency campaign described in the 1935 and 1936 accounts. Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=yfVPAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1
Daily Worker, May 25, 1935; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
Page2’s December24 Covington dispatch reports the ChristmasCommitteeToSaveALife arranging a ChristmasDay march to CovingtonJail for nineteen-year-old Montjoy, condemned to hang for rape. A pardon from GovernorChandler was being sought; the demonstration and clemency were prospective, not a pardon or execution.
An Associated Press dispatch in The Evening Independent of December 17, 1937 reports that John Montjoy died on the gallows at Covington, Kentucky, that day. This later report establishes the outcome after the appeals and clemency campaign described in the 1935 and 1936 accounts.
The Evening Independent, December 17, 1937, page 1, News Flashes / Negro Hanged.
