Murder of Penowanyanquis

The murder of Penowanyanquis took place in Plymouth Colony (now modern-day Massachusetts) in July 1638. Penowanyanquis, a Native American man who was part of the Nipmuc, was attacked by four runaway indentured servants – Thomas Jackson, Richard Stinnings, Daniel Cross (or Crosse), and their informal leader Arthur Peach, the four sometimes being referred to as the "Peach Gang" – during a botched attempt at highway robbery. Penowanyanquis lived for several days after the attack, long enough to identify his attackers. After the four were arrested, Cross fled before he could be taken to trial and was never relocated, but Stinnings, Jackson, and Peach were all taken into custody, convicted of murder and robbery, and judicially executed in September 1638.

Jackson, Peach, and Stinnings were the only people of European descent to have been executed for murdering a Native American in the history of Plymouth Colony. Historian Tobey Pearl called Penowanyanquis "one of the most significant crime victims in colonial history" and noted that the ensuing murder trial was the first "trial by jury" for a charge as serious as murder.