Burton Abbott

Who was Burton Abbott?

Burton W. Abbott was a University of California at Berkeley accounting student living in Alameda, California, who was tried for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan in November 1955. Although the evidence against him was entirely circumstantial, he was convicted and sentenced to death in California's gas chamber. He was executed in March 1957. As he was being executed, a stay of execution was telephoned to the prison. The outcome of this case raised questions whether the state has the right to execute a person based on circumstantial evidence alone.