James W. Rodgers
James W. Rodgers was an American who was sentenced to death by the state of Utah for the murder of miner Charles Merrifield in 1957. In his final statement before his execution by firing squad in 1960, Rodgers requested a bulletproof vest. His execution by firing squad would be the last to be carried out in the United States before capital punishment was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and the first person executed in Utah subsequent to that date was Gary Gilmore in 1977.
Rodgers was born on August 3, 1910 in Lubbock, Texas, and was the eldest of five brothers and six sisters. His education was interrupted during the eighth grade. At the age of twelve, he left his familys household, where his father forced the children to work. By the age of sixteen, he became involved in a bootlegging operation and was injured in the legs by machine gun fire. Rodgers eventually became involved in armed robbery, spending over twenty years in incarceration at various prisons.
Source: Wikipedia