Jesse Tafero
Jesse Tafero | |
|---|---|
Mug shot of Tafero | |
| Born | Jesse Joseph Tafero October 12, 1946 |
| Died | May 4, 1990 (aged 43) |
| Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Spouse | Sonia "Sunny" Jacobs |
| Children | 2 |
| Convictions | First degree murder (2 counts) Kidnapping Assault with intent to commit rape Committing a crime against nature Robbery (2 counts) Burglary |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Jesse Joseph Tafero (October 12, 1946 – May 4, 1990) was a convicted murderer and rapist who was executed via electric chair in the U.S. state of Florida for the 1976 murders of 39-year-old Florida Highway Patrol officer Phillip A. Black (who served 9 years with Florida Highway Patrol) and 39-year-old Ontario Provincial Police Corporal Donald Irwin (who served 18 years with Ontario Provincial Police), a visiting Canadian constable and friend of Black. The officers were killed during a traffic stop where Tafero, his wife Sunny Jacobs, and their children were passengers. Tafero's execution was botched; his head burst into flames during the execution by electric chair. A few years after Tafero's conviction, the driver, Walter Rhodes, confessed to shooting the officers. However, he later retracted his testimony, saying he had been pressured to do so by fellow inmates.
Gunpowder evidence implicated Tafero as the shooter or at least an accomplice to the murders.