Gallows used to hang bootlegger who SMILED as he faced death at one of America's last public executions in 1928 are discovered in an old barn
Gallows used to hang bootlegger who SMILED as he faced death at one of America's last public executions in 1928 are discovered in an old barn The gallows used to hang an infamous prohibition-era gangster in one of America's last public executions have been discovered in a dusty old barn. Bootlegger Charlie Birger was hanged in the town of Benton on April 19, 1928. He famously went to his death with a grin telling the crowd who had gathered to watch: 'It's a beautiful world.' He had been sentenced to death for ordering the murder of an Illinois town's mayor and was one of the last people to be publicly hanged in the state of Illinois. Smiling on death row: This 1928 photo provided by the Franklin County Historic Preservation Society in Benton, Ill., shows bootlegging gangster Charlie Birger, center, on the gallows just before his public hanging in Benton Now, some 85 years after his death, a family has discovered the gallows used in his execution have ...