John A. Bennett
John Arthur Bennett | |
|---|---|
Bennett shortly after his arrest | |
| Born | April 10, 1936 Chatham, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | April 13, 1961 (aged 25) United States Disciplinary Barracks, Kansas, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Executed by hanging |
| Convictions | Attempted premeditated murder Rape |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Military career | |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Service years | 1953–1955 |
| Rank | Private (E-1) |
John Arthur Bennett (April 10, 1936 – April 13, 1961) was a U.S. Army soldier who remains the last person to be executed after a court-martial by the United States Armed Forces. The 18-year-old private was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria. Despite last minute appeals for clemency and pleas to President John F. Kennedy by the victim and her family to spare his life, Kennedy refused. Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961.
Bennett is the only American soldier to ever be executed for rape in peacetime.