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Aug 30, 2026 inhistory

Paula Cooper, 18, speaks with her court-appointed appellate attorney, William Touchette. Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke, whom she stabbed 33 times during a burglary when she was 15 (Indiana, 1988) .

Paula Cooper, 18, speaks with her court-appointed appellate attorney, William Touchette. Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke, whom she stabbed 33 times during a burglary when she was 15 (Indiana, 1988) .

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