The Assassin’s Effigy: The Curious Case of Bridgeport’s “Execution” of Guiteau
On June 30th, 1882, Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President James A. Garfield, was hanged in Washington DC for the murder. Guiteau had been suffering from severe mental illness, and shot Garfield in retribution for what was perceived to be a failure to reward him for supporting the president’s election campaign. It took Garfield 80 days to die of his wounds Apparently some residents in Bridgeport were so incensed by Guiteau’s crime they decided to stage a hanging of their own, the curious event being reported in the Bridgeport Standard on the same day:
