Joseph E. Sheppard was born in 1918 and lived in Worcester, Massachusetts.
He entered the Bridgewater State Farm in 1936 with a supposed 'indeterminate life sentence.' He was later transferred to the Massachusetts State Prison. On June 24, 1943, at 3:00 p.m., Mr. Sheppard's mother pleaded with the Governor to save her son's life. She visited him for the last time at 10:30 that evening, after the Governor made no decision to commute the sentence. Mr. Sheppard died by electrocution at 12:32 a.m. on June 25, 1943, around the age of 25. Before his death, Mr. Sheppard declared that death was 'better than the State Farm,' citing terrible conditions and cruel treatment by prison guards during his incarceration.
Plot 204: Joseph E. Sheppard
