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Convicted and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the murder of his landlord Oscar Wheldon Davis. Claiming self defense, Odell Waller was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by an all white jury ( a standard circumstance in the Jim Crow South) His trial and appeals became a cause celebre in the nation, with no less than First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt advocating for commutation of sentence, among others, author Pearl S. Buck and philosopher John Dewey. Odell Davis died in the electric chair on July 3, 1942. His funeral, held on July 5th was attended by 2500 people.
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