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Potts, Elizabeth and Josiah Potts |
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Nevada State Prison Inmate Case Files
Josiah and Elizabeth Potts
Josiah and Elizabeth Potts were hanged in Elko County, Nevada in 1890. They were convicted of killing Miles Faucett around the date of January 1, 1888; when his remains were found about a year later, the Potts were arrested. The circumstances around the murder are mysterious, but the fact remains that the Potts did horrible things to the body of Faucett after he died.
They appealed the death sentence to the Supreme Court and, after that was denied, the Board of Pardons. The presiding judge in the Potts' Elko County trial requested commutation of the sentence to life in prison since Mr. Potts was regarded well by the community and had never before been in trouble. However Mrs. Potts, "was not well liked and her character was not good...She was evidently a strong minded, masculine woman, while the husband appears retiring and almost timid...that she was the leader in all things, and very likely the principal in the murder." The judge went on to say that the Potts' five-year-old daughter had told people that her mother killed Mr. Faucett while her father was away. The Board of Pardons turned down the appeal and Josiah and Elizabeth Potts were jointly hung in Elko.
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