I have to ask, what’s happening in Illinois? It seems to be turning into the epicenter for grisly nostalgia. Consider that in recent days:

– A warped wooden gallows used to hang convicts in Chicago, beginning with those condemned for the 1886, Haymarket Square riot, was sold at auction for $68,000.  Here is that story:
– According to an AP story, a dispute has erupted over ownership of the noose used in the last public hanging in Illinois. The granddaughter of the sheriff who supervised the 1928 execution says the rope is a priceless family heirloom, but reporter Jim Suhr writes that another faction says “hang on a minute.”  Here is that story:
– Also from Chicago, more news of Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 young men and boys in an orgy of necrophilia and cannibalism. Our Michael Conlon interviews a minister who baptized Dahmer in prison, and this man says Dahmer had found God before he was killed at the hands of a fellow inmate in 1994. Here is Conlon’s story:

Suitable for hanging…. The Chicago gallows.  REUTERS/Mastro Auctions/Handout