Joe Arridy was a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. A 23 year old with an IQ of 46 and a mental age of 6. An innocent man.
Joe Arridy was found wandering around railyards in Cheyenne, Wyoming and arrested, likely for trespassing. However, there was an investigation for a rape/axe murder in Pueblo Colorado. Coincidentally, Joe happened to pass through Pueblo on his way to Cheyenne.
Although a man named Frank Aguilar was already arrested on suspicion of the crime, Joe was coerced into saying that he had committed the crime and that he was with ‘a man named Frank’ in Pueblo. Joe gave multiple versions of how the murder played out, possibly thinking he was telling a story. During his 'confession’, he was told things such as “an axe was used” and he corrected himself to fit to the crime.
Joe Arridy was a favorite around the prison. He had a toy train which he passed around the prison, laughing as the other inmates acted out train wrecks and rescues for him. It was believed that he had no idea what was really going on.
As a child he was sent to a mental institution and was sexually abused by other people, but newspapers said that he let the abuse happen and wanted it to happen, calling him a sick pervert.
Although there were many, many attempts to save Joe, he ended up playing out his death sentence. He gave away his possessions to other inmates as he made his way to the gas chamber. Joe didn’t know what was happening. He smiled as he was strapped into the chair, clueless about what was to happen.
His wrongful death was given a pardon, 72 years later. Joe’s sad story inspired many people, and in the prison graveyard, Joe Arridy is the only person with a gravestone, as people raised money because they believed he deserved more than a cheap, engraved metal plate.