William Enzulus portrait   Save
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
Description: Before the closure of the Ohio Penitentiary in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of William Enzulus is one of them. On October 14, 1931 while serving a 10 to 25 year prison sentence for robbery, Enzulus managed to escape from the Ohio State Reformatory. On August 6, 1932 Detective John S. Buettner and his partner of the Cleveland City Police became suspicious of Enzulus who fit the profile of the suspect of a recent holdup and attempted to question him. Upon the officers’ approach, Enzulus unexpectedly pulled a handgun out from his waistband and shot Detective Buettner in the stomach. Buettner died three days later. The caption at the bottom of this photograph reads, “No. 169, William Enzulus of Cuyahoga County, electrocuted January 7th, 1933, for the murder of Detective Buettner of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He was executed at the age of 23. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08228
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Cuyahoga County (Ohio); Cleveland (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)