On February 16, 1886, John Echols shot and killed John Pettenridge in the Chickasaw Nation. The murder followed a dispute over the sale of some horses. Echols believed that Pettenridge had failed to deliver his end of the bargain.
When Pettenridge said that he was too busy to meet Echols demand to be made whole, Echols found him and killed him.
Echols, a white man born in Fulton County, Georgia, was convicted of first-degree murder on August 20, 1886, and sentenced to death.
John T. Echols was hanged at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on January 14, 1887.
The Federal Death Penalty Project 