Robert Folkes

Folkes's trial took place in April 1943 and garnered nationwide media attention. Throughout the trial, the prosecution articulated the motive behind the crime to be that Folkes killed James because all black men possess a violent sexual attraction to white women. The trial lasted 15 days, and despite Folkes's presence in the kitchen at the time of the murder being corroborated by several witnesses, the jury found Folkes guilty of the murder of Martha James. Judge L. Guy Lewelling sentenced him to death, and after several unsuccessful appeals, Folkes was executed in the gas chamber at the Oregon State Penitentiary on January 5, 1945.

On Saturday January 23, 1943, Train No. 15 left Portland's Union Station after 1 a.m. heading to Los Angeles. The train carried Robert E. Lee Folkes and Martha James, a 21-year old from Norfolk, Virginia, who was following her husband, ENS Richard James—who had departed earlier in the day on a train for troops. Also on the train was Harold Wilson, a marine. At approximately 4:30 am, near the town of Tangent, OR, occupants of the car awoke to Martha James screaming, "Oh my God, he's killing me." Occupants of the train then found Martha James' throat was slashed in her sleeping berth, and Marine Pvt. Harold Wilson was seen covered in blood, standing beside the victim as she lay dying.

Robert E. Lee Folkes was taken into custody when the train arrived in Los Angeles on January 24, 1943, and eventually confessed to the murder after several days in custody. Folkes's conviction resulted from an alleged confession; however, the circumstances under which he allegedly confessed were questionable at best. As reported by his wife and mother who saw him after the interrogation, Folkes's face was swollen, and he was intoxicated. Folkes's defense attorney, Leroy L. Lomax, would later call this confession into question. Lomax would go as far as to say that the Los Angeles police coerced Folkes's confession by force.

Robert E. Lee Folkes (June 20, 1922 – January 5, 1945) was an African American man who was convicted and executed in 1945 for the murder of Martha James, a white woman. It has been suspected by some historians that he was wrongly convicted.

Born on June 20, 1922, Folkes hailed from the Arkansas Delta. By the age of 12 he was working regular jobs in south Los Angeles. He attended Jefferson High in 1936 and 1937. In the early 1940s he was a railroad cook who regularly worked the round trip route between Los Angeles and Portland. Folkes would often walk into the passenger cars to pick up newspapers to read