<Tr> <Th> Cause of death </Th> <Td> Hanging, decapitation </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> murder </Td> </Tr> <P> Eva Dugan (1878--February 21, 1930) was a convicted murderer whose execution by hanging at the state prison in Florence, Arizona resulted in her decapitation and influenced the state of Arizona to replace hanging with the lethal gas chamber as a method of execution . </P> <P> Born in 1878, Dugan wound up in Juneau, Alaska after trekking north during the Klondike Gold Rush and became a cabaret singer . She subsequently moved to Pima County, Arizona, where she worked for an elderly chicken rancher, Andrew J. Mathis, as a housekeeper . Shortly after her employment was terminated for unknown reasons, Mathis disappeared, as did some of his possessions, his Dodge coupe automobile and his cash box . Neighbors reported that Dugan had tried to sell some of his possessions before she disappeared as well . </P>

First woman to be hung in arizona territory