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1955 Fred F. Sears California true-life execution biographical jail prison crime melodrama based on book by Caryl Chessman. Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 in St. Joseph, Michigan, May 2, 1960 at San Quentin Prison) was a convicted robber and rapist who gained fame as a death row inmate in California. Chessman's case attracted world-wide attention, and as a result he became a cause celebre for the movement to ban capital punishment.