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Writer's pictureVolume 82 Magazine

Missouri Executed the First Openly Transgender Woman for a 2003 Rape & Murder


The first openly transgender woman, Amber McLaughlin, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday. Amber was known as Scott McLaughlin when he was prosecuted for raping, murdering, and dumping the body of his ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther, in the Mississippi River in Missouri in 2003. Despite having a restraining order, McLaughlin continued to go to Beverly's job, where he eventually killed her. (The photo below was provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections).



Amber reportedly suffered from lifelong mental health issues and assumed a female identity after being prosecuted. Before the execution, Missouri's Governor, Mike Parson, refused Amber's request for a sentence commutation. Amber was housed in the Potosi Correctional Center, a male facility near St. Louis, because McLaughlin made no legal requests for a name change or a gender transition. (Beverly Guenther is pictured below/Courtesy of the Geunther Family)



Main photos were provided by the Associated Press


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