10/17/2025
Alexander McClay Williams was murdered on June 8, 1931. On October 3, 1930, Vida Robare, a house matron at the Glen Mills School for Boys, was found stabbed to death. Vida's estranged husband, Fred Robare, found her body. She had been stabbed more than 40 times with an ice pick. Investigators found a bloody adult-sized handprint on the wall near the door and initially theorized that only a grown man could have committed the crime. All 600 boys at the school were accounted for at the time of the murder. Despite this, the investigation inexplicably shifted to Alexander, a small Black student at the school. He had no known connection to Vida Robare and no history of violence. There were no witnesses, no fingerprints, no blood on his clothes, and no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Over several days, detectives interrogated Alexander without a lawyer, parent, or guardian present. Under intense pressure, they extracted three contradictory “confessions.” Each version differed significantly and did not match key facts of the crime scene. Alexander was indicted for murder and assigned a single court-appointed attorney: William H. Ridley. Ridley was given only $10 in expenses and 74 days to prepare a capital defense against the state’s well-resourced prosecution. He had no access to investigators, expert witnesses, or meaningful support. During the trial, the all-white jury never heard about the adult-sized bloody handprint, nor were they told that Vida Robare had just been granted a divorce from Fred on grounds of “extreme cruelty.” Despite these glaring omissions, and the fact that Fred Robare was never treated as a suspect, the prosecution pressed forward against Alexander. The trial lasted less than two days. The coerced, inconsistent confessions were admitted into evidence. Ridley, alone and under-prepared, was unable to mount a substantial defense. After fewer than four hours of deliberation, the jury found Alexander guilty. On February 27, 1931, the judge sentenced him to death by electrocution. No appeal was ever filed. In the early hours of June 8, 1931, witnesses assembled before dawn. Alexander had spent the night praying with the prison chaplain, weeping quietly in his cell. Guards reported that he was terrified, trembling as they escorted him down the short hallway toward the death chamber. He clutched the chaplain’s arm and whispered a prayer as he walked. When they reached the chamber, a complication arose: Alexander was too small for the electric chair. The device had been built to restrain grown men, and his small frame barely filled it. Executioners padded the back of the chair and propped him up with extra straps so the leather bindings and metal contacts would align properly with his head and legs. Thick leather belts were tightened across his chest, waist, and limbs. A wet sponge was placed under the head electrode to conduct the current. A black hood was drawn over his face. A surge of high-voltage electricity tore through his body, snapping his head back and locking his muscles in violent spasms. Witnesses said his small body je**ed against the restraints, the padded supports straining under the force. After five excruciating minutes, a prison physician pronounced him dead. After the ex*****on, Alexander’s remains were released to his family. He was buried in an unmarked grave. His sister, Susie Williams Carter, spent decades seeking justice for her brother. In the 1990s, she was joined by Dr. Samuel Lemon, the great-grandson of William Ridley. After more than 90 years of advocacy, justice finally came. In June 2022, a Delaware County judge vacated Alexander’s conviction. Alexander was 16 years old.
