Knowledge Is Power

WTF Fun Fact #3254

Joe Arridy was named the happiest inmate on death row. He had an IQ of 46 and played with a toy train given to him by the prison warden, Roy Best. Due to his lack of understanding, he smiled on his way to the gas chamber.

A/N: I did research y'all. 

Joe Arridy was a young American who is known for having been falsely accused, wrongfully convicted and wrongfully executed for the rape of 15-year-old Dorothy Drain. It's believed that he made a false confession. At the time of his death, he was known to be severely mentally disabled. Many people at the time (and still today) believed that Arridy was innocent. In 2011, 72 years after his execution, Arridy received a full and unconditional posthumous (occurring or awarded after the death of the originator) pardon. His lawyers attempted to gain a plea of insanity but Arridy was ruled sane. Three state psychiatrists acknowledged that Arridy to be so mentally limited as to be classified as an 'imbecile' a medical term of the time. He was said to have an IQ of 46 and the mind of a six-year-old. They noted that he was "incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong and therefore, would be unable to perform any action with criminal intent". However, Arridy was convicted, mostly because of his false confession.