William Williams

Who was William Williams?

William Williams was the last person executed by Minnesota. The circumstances of his execution helped lead to the abolition of capital punishment in Minnesota.

Williams was a Cornish immigrant working as a miner in Saint Paul, Minnesota. While hospitalized for diphtheria in 1904, Williams befriended John Keller, a local teenager who was recovering from the same disease. Williams and Keller developed a close homosexual relationship. Over the next two years they boarded together in St. Paul and took two trips to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada together. Keller's father did not approve of the relationship, and told his son that he was no longer permitted to travel with Williams. Johnny Keller returned to live at his parents' house.

In 1905, Williams had sent Keller a number of letters expressing love for him and requesting that Keller join him in Winnipeg; however, the letters went unanswered at Mr. and Mrs. Keller's insistence. Williams returned to Saint Paul in April 1905 and in a fit of rage shot and killed Johnny Keller and his mother at their house.