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Joe Arridy Was Bullied As a Child<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nJoe\u2019s parents were immigrants from Syria who also happened to be first cousins. This may have led to the genetic consequences that left their son intellectually challenged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joe was born mute and didn’t speak for five years. Many of Joe\u2019s siblings died while still very young and one of his brothers who did manage to survive was labeled a \u201chigh moron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was unable to keep up with other children his age. And after just one year in elementary school, the principal told Joe\u2019s father that Joe didn\u2019t belong with the other children and that he should keep him at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Joe was ten years old, his father lost his job at a steel company. No longer able to care for him, he sent him to a \u201cState Home for Mental Defectives.\u201d There, away from his family, Joe was bullied incessantly, both physically and verbally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact is, Joe Arridy, with such a low IQ, was vulnerable to abuse. He spoke slowly and struggled to string together long sentences. He was highly suggestible and a target of manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man who ran the home stated later that he was \u201coften taken advantage of by the other boys.\u201d And that once they got him to take the fall for stolen cigarettes even though he had nothing to do with the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After enduring a decade in the home, Joe finally ran away at the age of 21 years old and began hopping trains. This was during the Great Depression, when hobos crisscrossed the country on the backs of trains, struggling to make their way in a collapsing economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joe joined them, which is how he ended up in the rail yards in Cheyenne, Wyoming in August 1936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Questionable Confession of Joe Arridy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nOn August 14, 12-year-old Barbara Drain and 14-year-old Dorothy Drain were beaten and raped in their family home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both sustained hatchet blows to the head during the vicious attack. Barbara somehow managed to survive, but Dorothy was not so lucky. She succumbed to her wounds shortly afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shocking brutality of the assault created a sense of pressure on local police. The community was horrified by what happened and they demanded answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, the police did not have a whole lot to go off of. All they knew was that the attacker had been short and \u201cMexican,\u201d according to Barbara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to the efforts of the police, it did not take long to round up a prime suspect \u2013 a Mexican laborer named Frank Aguilar who had previously been fired by Barbara and Dorothy\u2019s father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As evidence mounted against him, everything pointed to Aguilar as being the killer. An ax head was found in his house and he was even identified by Barbara as having been the attacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aguilar eventually confessed to the crime and was executed in 1937. That really should have been the end of this horribly tragic episode. But unfortunately, at least one investigator was not satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eleven days after the assault, Sheriff George Carroll arrested Joe Arridy whom he found walking around the rail yard. Joe had a dark hue to his skin due to his Middle Eastern heritage. The sheriff thought that he could have been the \u201cMexican\u201d that they were supposed to be searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carroll interrogated Joe for eight hours without ever recording any information. During the questioning, Joe clearly had no idea about the murders. But curiously, Carroll was able to extract a confession from Joe that implicated him in the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A trial ensued. During this, Joe Arridy was forced to endure an endless series of questions from the prosecutors, many of which were unfairly leading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, at one point the sheriff asked Joe if he liked girls. When Joe responded with a \u2018yes,\u201d the sheriff immediately followed up by asking him if that was the case then why did he enjoy hurting them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joe, who investigators determined had the intellectual level of a six-year-old, was easily duped into providing the answers that his questioners wanted to hear. To make Joe\u2019s situation even worse, he received no special treatment due to his intellectual condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attorneys defending him tried to argue that he did not have the mental capacity to stand trial, but they ultimately lost. Joe Arridy, despite his innocence<\/a>, was soon on his way to death row.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe \u201cHappiest Inmate\u201d on Death Row<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn prison<\/a>, Joe Arridy got along well with all of the other inmates and befriended many of them. Even the warden felt a sense of paternal responsibility toward the young man. He gave him gifts and even said that he \u201ccared for him like a son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo the warden, Joe was the \u201chappiest prisoner<\/a> on death row.\u201d Although that was no doubt because he didn\u2019t realize he was going to die. According to the warden, on the eve of his execution, all he did was, \u201ccheerfully sit and play with a toy train I had given him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On August 14, 12-year-old Barbara Drain and 14-year-old Dorothy Drain were beaten and raped in their family home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both sustained hatchet blows to the head during the vicious attack. Barbara somehow managed to survive, but Dorothy was not so lucky. She succumbed to her wounds shortly afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shocking brutality of the assault created a sense of pressure on local police. The community was horrified by what happened and they demanded answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, the police did not have a whole lot to go off of. All they knew was that the attacker had been short and \u201cMexican,\u201d according to Barbara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to the efforts of the police, it did not take long to round up a prime suspect \u2013 a Mexican laborer named Frank Aguilar who had previously been fired by Barbara and Dorothy\u2019s father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As evidence mounted against him, everything pointed to Aguilar as being the killer. An ax head was found in his house and he was even identified by Barbara as having been the attacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aguilar eventually confessed to the crime and was executed in 1937. That really should have been the end of this horribly tragic episode. But unfortunately, at least one investigator was not satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eleven days after the assault, Sheriff George Carroll arrested Joe Arridy whom he found walking around the rail yard. Joe had a dark hue to his skin due to his Middle Eastern heritage. The sheriff thought that he could have been the \u201cMexican\u201d that they were supposed to be searching for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carroll interrogated Joe for eight hours without ever recording any information. During the questioning, Joe clearly had no idea about the murders. But curiously, Carroll was able to extract a confession from Joe that implicated him in the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A trial ensued. During this, Joe Arridy was forced to endure an endless series of questions from the prosecutors, many of which were unfairly leading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, at one point the sheriff asked Joe if he liked girls. When Joe responded with a \u2018yes,\u201d the sheriff immediately followed up by asking him if that was the case then why did he enjoy hurting them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joe, who investigators determined had the intellectual level of a six-year-old, was easily duped into providing the answers that his questioners wanted to hear. To make Joe\u2019s situation even worse, he received no special treatment due to his intellectual condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attorneys defending him tried to argue that he did not have the mental capacity to stand trial, but they ultimately lost. Joe Arridy, despite his innocence<\/a>, was soon on his way to death row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In prison<\/a>, Joe Arridy got along well with all of the other inmates and befriended many of them. Even the warden felt a sense of paternal responsibility toward the young man. He gave him gifts and even said that he \u201ccared for him like a son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the warden, Joe was the \u201chappiest prisoner<\/a> on death row.\u201d Although that was no doubt because he didn\u2019t realize he was going to die. According to the warden, on the eve of his execution, all he did was, \u201ccheerfully sit and play with a toy train I had given him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe \u201cHappiest Inmate\u201d on Death Row<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n