Burton Abbott
| Burton W. Abbott | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 8, 1928 Oregon, United States |
| Died | March 15, 1957 (aged 29) San Quentin State Prison, California, United States |
| Occupation | Student |
| Criminal penalty | Death by gas chamber |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Georgia Abbott |
| Parent(s) | Elsie (Moore) Abbott |
| Conviction(s) | Kidnapping and murder |
Burton Wilbur Abbott (February 8, 1928 – March 15, 1957) was a University of California at Berkeley accounting student living in Alameda, California, who was tried for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan in November 1955. Although the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, including Stephanie's body found buried near Abbott's upstate cabin and her purse and ID found in the basement of his home, he was convicted and sentenced to death in California's gas chamber. On March 15, 1957 a (second) one hour stay of execution from the governor of California was communicated to the prison just moments too late to halt his execution, which had already begun.
The case is often cited as one raising serious questions as to the appropriateness of condemning a person based on circumstantial evidence alone.
The case was the subject of a 2014 episode of Investigation Discovery's series A Crime to Remember (Season 2, Episode 7, "Cabin In The Woods").
Stephanie Bryan was last seen on April 28, 1955, on the way home from school taking her usual shortcut through the parking lot of the Claremont Hotel. A large-scale search failed to find her. Then in mid-July, Georgia Abbott, Burton Abbott's cosmetologist wife, reported finding personal effects which had belonged to the girl, including a purse and an ID card, in the basement of the Abbott's home in Alameda. The basement was in the home she shared with her husband, their son Christopher, and his mother, Elsie Abbott (née Moore). In interviewing the Abbotts, the police learned that Elsie Abbott had found the purse earlier, but did not connect it with the case.
Police subsequently recovered Stephanie's glasses, a brassiere, and other evidence in the basement. No one in the family could account for how the victim's personal effects came to be in the basement. Burton Abbott stated he was driving to the family's cabin 285 miles away near Weaverville, California, in Trinity County, when Stephanie disappeared. On July 20, 1955, the victim's body was found by San Francisco Examiner reporter Ed Montgomery in a shallow grave a few hundred feet from the cabin. Shortly after, Abbott was charged with her rape and murder.
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