The Cast

 When he walked out of the St. Martinville jail after the botched execution, Willie heard one townsman exclaim, “They couldn’t kill the black bastard!”

Bertrand DeBlanc agreed to take Willie’s case, despite the fact that the victim, Andrew Thomas, was one of DeBlanc’s best friends. 

Judge James Dudley Simon presided over the twelve Cajun jurors who convicted Willie of murder after a deliberation of just fifteen minutes. Simon is pictured here with the actress Delores Del Rio during the filming of Evangeline.  District Attorney L.O. Pecot and Sheriff E.L. Resweber. 

J. Edgar Hoover ordered the Department of Justice to investigate Sheriff Gilbert Ozenne and his men for their role in the beatings of prominent blacks in New Iberia, La. 

The only black lawyer in Louisiana, A. P. Tureaud helped bring national attention to Willie’s case.

Tortured by his vote to allow Louisiana to send Willie to the chair a second time, Felix Frankfurter worked behind the scenes to save Willie’s life.