Caryl Chessman was born May 27, 1921, at St. Joseph, Michigan and was raised in the Los Angeles area. He was known as the Red Light Bandit and was convicted on July 5, 1948, on 17 counts of kidnaping, robbery and sexual assaults. He drew two death sentences and 15 prison sentences. While in prison, during stays of execution he began writing and wrote several well known novels. He was indicted and tried in the courts of California. He was assigned to death row at San Quentin Prison in 1948. On May 2, 1960, Caryl Chessman was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin Prison.
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