John William Cline photograph

This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of John William Cline, a 25-year-old crane operator from Butler County, Ohio. Cline was convicted of the murder of Patrolman Aaron Laubach during a gas station robbery in Hamilton, Ohio, and was the 216th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 216, John William Cline, of Butler County, Legally Electrocuted February 1st, 1939, for the Murder of Patrolman Aaron Laubach, at Columbus, Ohio.” In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963