The Controversial Execution of Noah Fulton

The execution of Noah Fulton remains one of the more controversial and mysterious cases of capital punishment in Southwest Virginia. Convicted of first-degree murder at the age of 19, Fulton was hanged in 1907 for killing his lifelong friend, 23-year-old John Johnson.

Fulton worked at a lumber mill while Johnson farmed. In March 1907, the two friends spent about a month working together in West Virginia before returning home to the Abingdon area.

Some contemporary reports erroneously identified Fulton as “colored,” although both young men were white.

What caused their longtime friendship to end in murder was never entirely clear.

What Caused the Quarrel?

Accounts of the dispute varied considerably.

Some claimed Fulton and Johnson were rivals for the affection of the same young woman. Others said Johnson had insulted Fulton. Another rumor suggested that Fulton had actually been hired to kill his friend.

Fulton offered his own explanation, claiming Johnson had threatened his life on the day of the shooting.

Numerous accounts connected the dispute to 17-year-old Dorah Breedvole. According to this version, the two young men had quarreled over her for about a month while in West Virginia. The dispute temporarily faded but was rekindled after they returned to Abingdon.

Some reports went so far as to describe what followed as a duel.

Breedvole was reportedly devastated by the events.

The Killing at Greendale

Fulton and Johnson met around 2 o’clock on the afternoon of April 28, 1907, at Greendale near Abingdon.

Fulton shot Johnson five times.

Only one of the bullets proved fatal, severing an artery and causing Johnson to bleed to death.

Fulton fled toward Tennessee as authorities pursued him with bloodhounds. At Bluff City, Tennessee, he purchased a train ticket for Indianapolis.

He didn’t get far.

Authorities apprehended Fulton in Jonesboro, Tennessee, on April 29 and returned him to Virginia, where he was incarcerated in the Abingdon jail.

Sentenced to Hang at 19

Fulton’s case moved remarkably quickly.

On June 10, 1907, he was convicted of first-degree murder. His attorney immediately sought a new trial, but the request was denied the following day.

The judge sentenced Fulton to hang on July 12.

His age soon generated considerable public sympathy. Petitions circulated asking that his death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment, while his attorneys continued pursuing appeals.

Fulton and his family remained hopeful as the execution was repeatedly postponed.

The original July 12 date was moved to September 13, then October 11, November 15, and finally December 13.

For months, Virginia Governor Claude A. Swanson reviewed the case. Reports of possible new evidence surfaced, but none persuaded him to commute the sentence. The Supreme Court also denied an appeal.

Swanson ultimately declined to intervene.

Noah Fulton’s Secret

Shortly before his execution, Fulton made a cryptic statement that added another mystery to the case.

He claimed he carried a secret that, if revealed, could have caused someone else to be hanged in his place.

Fulton apparently believed that because he had remained silent for so long, he could no longer be forgiven for revealing the truth.

He refused visits from ministers who attempted to console him.

The statement breathed new life into one of the strangest rumors surrounding Johnson’s death: that Fulton had been paid to commit the murder.

If Fulton truly possessed information that could have implicated another person, he took it with him to the gallows.

The Execution of Noah Fulton

Noah Fulton was hanged on December 13, 1907.

The execution did not go as intended.

Fulton’s neck failed to break when he dropped through the gallows. Instead, he remained suspended as he slowly strangled.

According to existing accounts, Fulton hung for approximately 27 minutes before dying. His body remained on the rope for about 31 minutes before authorities cut him down and the attending physician pronounced him dead.

He was 19 years old.

Rumors That Fulton Survived

Even the execution failed to end Noah Fulton’s appearances in the newspapers.

During the final weeks of December, an extraordinary rumor spread that Fulton had somehow survived his hanging.

According to the story, because his neck had not broken, Fulton had remained alive and was secretly being nursed back to health by relatives.

The rumor became widespread enough that authorities eventually responded.

By December 29, officials had released details concerning Fulton’s burial, putting the story of his miraculous survival to rest.

Noah Fulton was dead.

But one question followed him to the grave.

Was John Johnson simply killed during a violent quarrel between two former friends, or did Fulton truly know something that could have placed someone else on the gallows?

Whatever secret Noah Fulton claimed to possess, he never revealed it.