You’ve probably heard of In Cold Blood. Truman Capote’s "non-fiction novel" is the reason everyone knows about the Clutter family murders and the two men, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, who ended up on the gallows for it. But there’s a massive piece of Kansas history that usually gets buried in the footnotes of that book. Just a few months after Hickock and Smith were executed in 1965, two other young men—George York and James Latham—walked up those same thirteen steps.
They were the last. Since June 22, 1965, the state of Kansas hasn't executed a single soul.
Honestly, the story of George York and James Latham is arguably more terrifying than the Clutter case because it was so random. There was no plan to rob a wealthy farmer. There was no specific target. It was just two kids from the Army who decided to kill their way across seven states because they were bored, angry, and didn't want to follow orders anymore.
The Spree That Nobody Saw Coming
In May 1961, George Ronald York (18) and James Douglas Latham (19) were stuck in the stockade at Fort Hood, Texas. They weren't exactly hardened criminals yet. York was in for going AWOL; Latham had been caught stealing.
They hated the Army. Specifically, they claimed they hated being in integrated units, a detail that often highlights the ugly racial tensions of the era. So, they just left. They escaped the stockade, ditched the base, and started a cross-country rampage that would leave seven people dead in about two weeks.
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It started in Louisiana. They beat a man named Edward Guidroz and stole his truck. They didn't kill him, but it was the "warm-up." By the time they hit Jacksonville, Florida, things got dark fast. On May 29, they met two women from Valdosta, Georgia—Althea Ottavio and Patricia Hewett. The women were strangled with their own stockings.
A Trail of Bodies Across the Map
If you look at the geography of their crimes, it’s chaotic. They weren't heading anywhere specific. They were just moving.
- Tennessee: They killed 71-year-old John Whitaker in Tullahoma for his car.
- Illinois: They hitched a ride with Albert Reed near Troy. They killed him and dumped his body in a creek. Then, they hit a gas station near Edwardsville and killed the owner, Martin Drenovac.
- Kansas: This is where the legal hammer eventually fell. They shot Otto Ziegler, a 61-year-old railroad worker who had pulled over to help them because he thought they were broken down. It was a ruse.
- Colorado: Their final victim was Rachel Moyer, a 17-year-old motel maid in Craig.
They were finally caught in Tooele County, Utah, on June 10. When the police grabbed them, they didn't act like scared kids. They bragged. They told investigators they’d killed eight or nine people. They seemed almost proud of how easy it was.
Life on Death Row with "In Cold Blood" Legends
Because they killed Otto Ziegler in Wallace County, George York and James Latham were extradited back to Kansas. This is where their story intersects with the famous "In Cold Blood" killers.
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For several years, York and Latham lived in the cells right next to Dick Hickock and Perry Smith at the Kansas State Penitentiary (now Lansing). Capote actually mentions them in his book. He describes them as "flippant" and "snide." He portrays them as young punks who lacked even the twisted introspection that Perry Smith supposedly had.
The Controversy Over Remorse
There’s a lot of debate about who these boys actually were. York’s sister, Emile York Campbell, has spent years trying to push back against the "remorseless" label. She argues that the book—and the media at the time—painted them as monsters for the sake of a good story.
According to her, George was a "mama's boy" who got caught up with the wrong person. She claimed James Latham was the primary instigator, the one who actually pulled the triggers and tightened the stockings. Whether that’s true or just a sister’s loyalty is hard to say. But on June 22, 1965, it didn't matter.
Latham went first. His last words were reportedly, "I'm not mad at anybody."
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York followed. He told the witnesses, "There is nothing to say but that I’m going to heaven."
Why George York and James Latham Still Matter Today
We talk a lot about the "why" of crime. With York and Latham, the "why" is incredibly thin. They weren't "born killers" in the way some psychologists describe. They were teenagers who made a series of increasingly violent choices in a very short window of time.
Their case effectively closed the book on the death penalty in Kansas for decades. Even though the state reinstated capital punishment in 1994, nobody has been executed since those two boys were swung from the gallows in the early morning hours of a Kansas summer.
Key Takeaways from the Case
- The Spree Killer vs. Serial Killer Distinction: York and Latham are classic spree killers. Their crimes were a single, continuous eruption of violence without a "cooling-off" period.
- The Impact of Media: Capote’s portrayal fixed their image in the public mind as cold-blooded, but family accounts suggest a more complex (though still horrific) reality.
- Legal Legacy: Their execution remains the "cutoff" point for Kansas history, serving as a frequent reference point in modern debates about the death penalty.
If you’re looking into this case for research or just because you’re a true crime fan, it’s worth looking past the In Cold Blood version. Check out the 1962 Kansas Supreme Court decision (State v. Latham & York). It lays out the facts without the literary flourishes.
The reality of George York and James Latham isn't a gothic novel. It was just a fast, brutal, and ultimately pointless waste of nine lives—the seven they took, and the two they gave up to the hangman.
Next Steps for Researchers: Read the official court transcripts from the 1962 appeal to see how the "ruse" on Otto Ziegler was used to prove premeditated intent. You should also look into the history of the Lansing Correctional Facility gallows, which were dismantled and eventually replaced after this case became the state's final act of capital punishment.