List of last executions in the United States by crime

This is a list of the last executions in the United States for the crimes stated.

List of last persons to be executed for a crime other than murder

Crime	Convict	Race	Age	Date	Location	Jurisdiction	Other notes
Robbery	James Coburn [1] [2]	White	38	4 September 1964	Alabama	State	Coburn's victim died. He was charged with murder and robbery, but the murder charge never went to trial. Herbert Bradley was executed in Texas on 16 May 1962 for a robbery where the victim was left permanently crippled from the waist down after being shot six times and beaten with a hammer, but did not die.
Rape	Ronald Wolfe [3]	White	33	8 May 1964	Missouri	State	Wolf's victim was a child.
Aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury by an inmate serving a life sentence for murder	Rudolph Wright [4] [5]	Black	31	11 January 1962	California	State	Wright's victim died. Robert Harmon of California was executed for assault by a life convict on 9 August 1960 in a case where the victim did not die.
Kidnapping	Billy Monk [6] [7] [8] [9]	White	26	21 November 1960	California	State	Monk raped his victim. While Victor Feguer is listed in ESPY as being executed for kidnapping, he also murdered his victim.
Burglary with intent to ravish	Ross McAfee [10] [11] [12] [13]	Black	39	22 November 1957	North Carolina	State	McAfee also admitted to the murder of an elderly woman in Georgia in 1956.
Espionage	Ethel and Julius Rosenberg	White	35 (Julius) and 37 (Ethel)	19 June 1953	New York	Federal	The Rosenbergs were both given numerous chances to cooperate in exchange for prison terms up until their executions.
Desertion	Eddie Slovik [14]	White	24	31 January 1945	Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France	Military	Slovik was the first person to be executed for desertion since the American Civil War. Prior to his court-martial, he was given multiple chances to rejoin his unit without facing any consequences, but refused.
Burglary	Frank Bass [15] [16] [17] [18]	Black	23	8 August 1941	Alabama	State	The victim in the burglary was killed by an accomplice of Bass.
Train robbery	Black Jack Ketchum	White	37	26 April 1901	New Mexico Territory	Federal
Arson	George Hughes, George Smith, and Asbury Hughes [19]	White	21 (George Hughes), 30 (George Smith) and 22 (Asbury Hughes)	1 August 1884	Alabama	State	George Smith was linked to two murders in other states.
Stealing, treason, and conduct unbecoming a slave	Amy Spain [20]	Black	17	10 March 1865	Confederate South Carolina	Military	Executed under Confederate authority.
Conspiracy to commit murder	Five unnamed Yuki men [21]	Native	Unknown	21 July 1863	California	State
Piracy	Nathaniel Gordon [Note 1]	White	30	21 February 1862	New York	Federal	Was executed for slave trading, which was defined as piracy, and therefore subject to the same sentence.
Slave revolt	Caesar, Sam, and Sanford (slaves)	Black	Unknown	19 October 1860	Alabama	State
Treason	William Bruce Mumford [Note 2]	White	42	7 June 1862	Union-occupied New Orleans, Louisiana	Military
Aiding a runaway slave	Starling Carlton	White	Unknown	1859	South Carolina	State
Theft	Jake (slave)	Black	Unknown	3 December 1855	Alabama	State
Horse theft (Grand Larceny)	Theodore Velenquez [22]	Hispanic	Unknown	30 January 1852	California	State
Forgery	Ray	White	Unknown	6 March 1840	South Carolina	State
Counterfeiting	Thomas Davis [23]	White	60	11 October 1822	Alabama	State
Bestiality	Joseph Ross [24] [Note 3] [25]	White	Unknown	1785	Pennsylvania	State
Witchcraft	Manuel [26]	Black	Unknown	15 June 1779	Illinois	Territory
Concealing the birth/death of an infant	Hannah Piggen [27]	Unknown	Unknown	1785	Massachusetts	State
Sodomy	Jan Creoli [28]	Black	Unknown	25 March 1646	New Netherland	Colony
Adultery	Mary Latham and John Britton [29]	White	18 (Lantham)	21 March 1643	Massachusetts Bay	Colony

Statistics

From 1930 to 1967, 3859 criminals were executed, sorted in the following table: ^[30]

Crime	Total executions	Blacks	Whites	Other races
Murder	3334	1630	1664	40 [Note 4]
Rape	455	405	48	2 [Note 5]
Armed robbery [Note 6]	25	19	6	0
Kidnapping	20	0	20	0
Burglary	11	11	0	0
Sabotage	6	0	6	0
Aggravated assault by a life-term prisoner	6	1	5	0
Espionage [Note 7]	2	0	2	0
Total	3859	2066	1751	42

See also

• Capital punishment in the United States

Notes and references

Notes

1. Slave trading was assimilated to piracy, as hostis humani generis .
2. John Conn and four other persons were executed for treason on 1862 in Texas, under Confederate authority.
3. On 1801, soldier Jose Antonio Rosas was shot for sodomy in Spanish California.
4. 17 Native Americans, 13 Filipinos, 8 Chinese and 2 Japanese.
5. Native Americans.
6. Two executions for bank robberies causing death (Tony Chebatoris and James Dalhover) included here.
7. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

References

1. Supreme Court to hear case on death penalty restriction, Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage, January 05, 2008
2. "Coburn". Alabama Journal. June 8, 1964. p. 11. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
3. "RAPE WHERE VICTIM LIVED". May 12, 2009. Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
4. "People v. Wright, 55 Cal.2d 560".
5. United States Demographics, Part B
6. "People v. Monk, 56 Cal.2d 288".
7. "Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 27, 1960". April 27, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
8. "More on Capital Punishment". MarshallsKnowledge©. October 24, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
9. "San Quentin Gas Chamber Claims Life of Billy Monk". Valley News. November 23, 1961. p. 19.
10. "Man's Life Taken for Rape Attempt". Charlotte News. November 22, 1957.
11. 100 S.E.2d 249 (N.C. 1957); 247 N.C. 98; STATE v. Ross McAFEE (alias J. C. Adams). No. 361, Supreme Court of North Carolina. November 6, 1957.
12. Berger, Peter L. (June 7, 2011). Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore. Prometheus Books. p. 40. ISBN   978-1-61614-390-9.
13. Christianson, Scott (2010). The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-25562-3.
14. "The Sad Story of Private Eddie Slovik". 28-110-k.org. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
15. "Negro Is First To Die For Night Burglary". The Tuscaloosa News . August 8, 1941. p. 2. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
16. "Alabama executes Negro for burglary". Monroe News Star Newspaper. August 8, 1941. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
17. "First Burglar Goes To Chair Under New Death Penalty Law". The Montgomery Advertiser. August 8, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
18. "Alabama Negro To Die For Night Burglary". The Palm Beach Post. August 8, 1941. p. 8. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
19. Chambless, Ann B. (November 11, 2011). "A story back in time". The Daily Sentinel. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
20. O'Shea, Kathleen A. (1994). "Till death do us part" (PDF). Nemesis. 10 (2): 54.
21. Berry, Irene; O'Hare, Sheila and Silva, Jesse (2006). Legal Executions in California: A Comprehensive Registry, 1851–2005. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, p. 61.
22. Berry, Irene; O'Hare, Sheila and Silva, Jesse (2006). Legal Executions in California: A Comprehensive Registry, 1851–2005. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, p. 10.
23. Niles' National Register. Vol. 23. January 4, 1823. p. 288.
24. Manion, Jen (October 7, 2015). Liberty's Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   978-0-8122-9242-8.
25. Gutierrez, Ramon A.; Almaguer, Tomas (August 23, 2016). The New Latino Studies Reader: A Twenty-First-Century Perspective. Univ of California Press. p. 422. ISBN   978-0-520-28484-5.
26. Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File
27. "Bathsheba Spooner, Hannah Piggen, and Rachel Wall". Tattered Fabric: Fall River's Lizzie Borden. August 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015.
28. "Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin, 1607-1783, by Jonathan Ned Katz". outhistory.org. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
29. "Mary Latham Marries an Older Man – And Regrets It - New England Historical Society". www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com. March 16, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
30. United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee No. 3 (1972). Capital punishment. Hearings, Ninety-second Congress, second session. Boston Public Library. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off. pp.  265.