Major Watt Espy, Jr. (March 2, 1933 – August 13, 2009) was a researcher and expert on capital punishment in the United States.
Even in college he had garnered a reputation as an engaging speaker, serving as toastmaster for the 30th anniversary banquet of the chapter, held in 1955.
[1][2] Espy was an author, with John Ortiz Smykla, of The Espy Files, a database of executions carried out in the United States and preceding territories from 1608, which is the most complete source of data on the issue, identifying 15,487 people put to death.
Espy became a death penalty opponent due to his concerns about racial bias, innocence and lack of deterrence.
Espy served as a citizen witness to exactly one execution - that of John Louis Evans in the Alabama electric chair on April 22, 1983.