Willie James Tolbert (circa 1925 – October 28, 1949) was an African-American man from Greenwood, South Carolina, who was convicted of raping a white woman on August 8, 1949 and executed by electric chair on October 28, 1949. AP News stories about the three-day manhunt, trial, and execution of Tolbert were picked up by papers across the nation. Tolbert maintained in interviews with his lawyer and the press that the sex he had with the woman was consensual and that he was unable to testify in his own defense during the trial because he was warned not to by the county sheriff. Two separate reporters, Deling Booth and John Henry McCray who published articles providing Tolbert's version of the events were charged with criminal libel following Tolbert's execution.
Arrest
According to newspaper reports, a 16-year-old white woman and her white boyfriend, 17-year-old Sammy Cassels (also reported as Sam or Sammy Castles), were parked on the side of an isolated road when Tolbert approached their car on foot asking for a match to light his cigarette. The young woman, alarmed by the unexpected appearance of Tolbert, got out of the car and attempted to run away. Tolbert chased after her, caught her by the arm, and dragged her back to the vehicle where he allegedly raped her in the presence of her boyfriend. Cassels claimed he did not try to intervene because Tolbert, though unarmed, threatened to kill the girl if Cassels tried to stop him.
Following the alleged assault, the teenagers testified that Tolbert kidnapped them and drove them around for about two hours on the rural roads of Greenwood and neighboring Laurel County at speeds sometimes reaching 100 miles per hour, threatening to kill them all by wrecking the car if the teenaged couple made any attempt to escape. Tolbert allegedly pulled over the car at some point during this period of time and raped the girl a second time. After a few hours, Tolbert returned to approximately the same place where he first abducted the couple. They said that Tolbert told them he was going to hop a freight train out of town and exclaimed "some Negro will die for this but it won't be me" before fleeing from the scene.
A manhunt for Tolbert ensued, enlisting the efforts of hundreds of armed volunteers from the Greenwood area. As the manhunt dragged on unsuccessfully, crosses were burned outside of African-American businesses in downtown Greenwood in apparent response to the alleged crime. Tolbert, who had taken refuge at his mother's house after evading the search parties in the woods for the previous three days, surrendered himself to authorities. Out of concern for Tolbert's safety, the sheriff immediately rushed Tolbert to the prison in nearby Columbia, South Carolina, where he was held for questioning and, according to the sheriff, confessed to sexually assaulting the young woman.
Trial
Tolbert's trial began on 12 September 1949 with Judge J. Henry Johnson of Allendale presiding. Solicitor Jeff Griffith of Saluda stood in as prosecuting attorney for Solicitor Hugh Beasley of Greenwood whose daughter was the alleged victim of the crime. Tolbert was represented by Columbia attorney Harold Boulware, Jr., the first African-American lawyer to try a case in Greenwood County.
Since no African-American jurors were included in the grand jury pool, Boulware initiated the trial with a motion to quash the first indictment on the grounds that Tolbert's right to a trial by jury of his peers was being violated. Johnson granted the motion and a second grand jury was promptly convened that included one African-American juror. The second grand jury upheld Tolbert's indictment, and the trial proceeded with an all white trial jury.
The prosecution built their case primarily on the testimony of Greenwood Sheriff J. Cal White, the arresting officer who reported Tolbert had confessed to the crime, as well as the testimony of the young couple who were the alleged victims of the crime. FBI investigators who searched the car where the crime had allegedly taken place also testified to finding "Negro" hair as well as a button and threads matching those from the clothing Tolbert was wearing at the time.