
Eduard Delacroix in 1935.
Eduard Delacroix (1888-1935) was an American cajun murderer and rapist.
Biography[]
Eduard Delacroix was a death-row inmate incarcerated at Cold Mountain Penitentiary for raping and killing a young girl, then trying to cover up his crime by burning her body. The fire was near an apartment building that caught on fire and killed six more people, including two children. After a lengthy trial, he was sentenced to death by electric chair.
While he served his final years, he became friends with some of the prison guards, including Paul Edgecomb. However, Del made an enemy out of Percy Wetmore, the nephew of the Governer of Louisiana, and went through several frequent confrontations with him. Percy frequently called him a "f-----" and at one point broke three of Del's fingers with a nightstick out of sheer impertinence.
Del adopted a pet mouse named Mr. Jingles, who was one of the little things that kept Eduard happy. At one point, Percy stomped down hard on Mr. Jingles, killing him, but fellow inmate John Coffey later resurrected him.
Eduard Delacroix's execution was on a stormy night and was conducted by Wetmore. After the electrodes were strapped to his head, Percy was tasked with wetting the sponge to conduct electricity to his head, which would making for a quicker and far less painful death. However, Percy deliberately left the sponge dry and placed it onto the electrodes. After Percy ordered that the switch be activated, Eduard went through an agonizing, torturous execution; instead of killing him instantly, the dry sponge caused the alternating current to flow throughout him; the current caused his body to shoot out blue flames. After two minutes, Del died from the electrocution; by this point, his face was on fire.