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Toni Jo Henry
Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston; January 3, 1916 – November 28, 1942) was an American murderer, and the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.
Married to Claude 'Cowboy' Henry, she decided to break her husband out of the Texas State Penitentiary, where he was serving a 50-year sentence for murder. Together with Horace 'Arkie' Burks, she took a ride with Joseph P. Calloway, whom they then robbed and murdered. Toni Jo Henry was convicted and sentenced to death. After three separate trials, she was executed by electrocution on November 28, 1942. Her case generated several popular books and films including A Savage Wisdom and Stone Justice.
Henry was born Annie Beatrice McQuiston in Shreveport, Louisiana, on January 3, 1916, the third of five children. She lived with her grandmother for a while, while her mother was ill. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Henry was six years old. After her mother died she lived with her father and stepmother, although always wanted to return to living with her grandmother.
Henry worked part-time in a macaroni factory at thirteen but was sacked when the manager found out there was tuberculosis in her family. After her father beat her for losing her job, she left home and became a street hustler and prostitute, changing her name to Toni Jo Hood. She later worked in a brothel in Shreveport's red-light district. Henry was addicted to cocaine at this time and also plied her trade in other parts of Louisiana and South Texas.
In 1939, she met Claude Henry, one of her customers, in Austin, Texas. A down-on-his-luck prize fighter, Cowboy, as he was known, fell in love with the young woman. Married on November 25, 1939, the couple honeymooned in southern California.
Upon returning from California, Claude Henry was arrested for the murder of a former San Antonio police officer, Arthur Sinclair, prior to their marriage. He was found guilty in January 1940 and sentenced to fifty years in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.
Toni Jo then began contemplating plans to break her husband out of Huntsville Prison. She recruited an accomplice, an ex-con and army deserter named Horace Finnon 'Arkie' Burks, who claimed to know the layout of the penitentiary. The pair devised a plan to rob a bank, in hopes of securing money to aid in breaking Claude Henry out of jail. Two teenagers were persuaded to break into a gun store and steal guns and ammunition for them to use. Joseph P. Calloway was delivering a Ford Coupe to a friend when he happened upon Toni Jo and Arkie Burks who were hitchhiking. Unaware of their plan, he offered to give the two a ride.
As they drove past Jennings, Louisiana, Toni Jo and Arkie robbed Calloway at gunpoint. They proceeded to lock him in the trunk of his car and drive down a country road. The duo planned to use the Ford as a getaway vehicle; however, they soon decided to pull the car over on a country track. Calloway was ordered out of the car. He was then ushered into a field and told to strip as Henry wanted a change of clothes for her husband when they broke him out of prison. Calloway was then shot once in the head with a .32 caliber revolver and died at the scene.
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Toni Jo Henry
Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston; January 3, 1916 – November 28, 1942) was an American murderer, and the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.
Married to Claude 'Cowboy' Henry, she decided to break her husband out of the Texas State Penitentiary, where he was serving a 50-year sentence for murder. Together with Horace 'Arkie' Burks, she took a ride with Joseph P. Calloway, whom they then robbed and murdered. Toni Jo Henry was convicted and sentenced to death. After three separate trials, she was executed by electrocution on November 28, 1942. Her case generated several popular books and films including A Savage Wisdom and Stone Justice.
Henry was born Annie Beatrice McQuiston in Shreveport, Louisiana, on January 3, 1916, the third of five children. She lived with her grandmother for a while, while her mother was ill. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Henry was six years old. After her mother died she lived with her father and stepmother, although always wanted to return to living with her grandmother.
Henry worked part-time in a macaroni factory at thirteen but was sacked when the manager found out there was tuberculosis in her family. After her father beat her for losing her job, she left home and became a street hustler and prostitute, changing her name to Toni Jo Hood. She later worked in a brothel in Shreveport's red-light district. Henry was addicted to cocaine at this time and also plied her trade in other parts of Louisiana and South Texas.
In 1939, she met Claude Henry, one of her customers, in Austin, Texas. A down-on-his-luck prize fighter, Cowboy, as he was known, fell in love with the young woman. Married on November 25, 1939, the couple honeymooned in southern California.
Upon returning from California, Claude Henry was arrested for the murder of a former San Antonio police officer, Arthur Sinclair, prior to their marriage. He was found guilty in January 1940 and sentenced to fifty years in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.
Toni Jo then began contemplating plans to break her husband out of Huntsville Prison. She recruited an accomplice, an ex-con and army deserter named Horace Finnon 'Arkie' Burks, who claimed to know the layout of the penitentiary. The pair devised a plan to rob a bank, in hopes of securing money to aid in breaking Claude Henry out of jail. Two teenagers were persuaded to break into a gun store and steal guns and ammunition for them to use. Joseph P. Calloway was delivering a Ford Coupe to a friend when he happened upon Toni Jo and Arkie Burks who were hitchhiking. Unaware of their plan, he offered to give the two a ride.
As they drove past Jennings, Louisiana, Toni Jo and Arkie robbed Calloway at gunpoint. They proceeded to lock him in the trunk of his car and drive down a country road. The duo planned to use the Ford as a getaway vehicle; however, they soon decided to pull the car over on a country track. Calloway was ordered out of the car. He was then ushered into a field and told to strip as Henry wanted a change of clothes for her husband when they broke him out of prison. Calloway was then shot once in the head with a .32 caliber revolver and died at the scene.