The story of the second woman executed in Pa
The story of the second woman executed in Pa Corrine Sykes, left, was a 22-year-old African American housemaid who became the second woman in Pennsylvania to die under the death penalty, in 1946. She was electrocuted. At right, Pennsylvania's electric chair in the early '50s. The same chair was used in all Pennsylvania executions. The large ventilator hood withdrew the smoke from burning skin Seventy-five years ago this month, Corrine Sykes walked “the last mile” to Pennsylvania’s electric chair in a gray jumper and white bobby socks. She was a 22-year-old African American housemaid with a mental age of 8 She was convicted of sinking a large kitchen knife into her new employer’s heart, then dismembering her finger in a frantic struggle to snatch a two-karat diamond ring. Sykes naively confessed to Freeda Wodlinger’s murder: “After I stabbed her, I took the rings off her fingers. I sure like jewels.” The crime Harry Wodlinger played hooky from his Center City real est...