The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Alabama prior to 1972, when capital punishment was briefly abolished by the Supreme Court's ruling in Furman v. Georgia . For executions after the restoration of capital punishment by the Supreme Court's ruling in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), see List of people executed in Alabama. [1] [2]
Historically, all executions in Alabama were performed locally by hanging. On March 1, 1927, hanging was officially replaced by electrocution. [3] The state's new electric chair, nicknamed "Yellow Mama" for being painted bright yellow, was installed in an official execution chamber at Kilby Prison. [4] It was built by Ed Mason, an English cabinetmaker serving a long sentence there. [3]
Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Crime | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horace DeVaughn | Black | 35 | M | April 8, 1927 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | Auburn B. Moore and Ruby Thornton, white [5] [a] | Bibb Graves |
William Virgil Murphy | White | 37 | M | April 23, 1927 | Houston | Murder | Female, white (wife) [6] | |
Clyde Reese Bachelor | White | 26 | M | July 15, 1927 | Elmore | Murder | Lamar Smith, white (father-in-law) [7] | |
Sam Hall | Black | M | September 9, 1927 [b] | Autauga | Murder | Kate Hall, black (estranged wife) [8] | ||
Jeff Coleman | Black | M | December 16, 1927 | Jefferson | Murder | A. A. Manley, white [9] | ||
Bob Eatman | Black | M | December 30, 1927 | Hale | Murder | Three victims, black [10] [c] | ||
Charlie Washington | Black | M | March 9, 1928 | Jefferson | Murder | Louis Wallock, white [11] | ||
John Burchfield | White | 25 | M | Chambers | Murder | Howard Dudley, 15, white [12] | ||
Isiah Brooks | Black | M | April 6, 1928 | Crenshaw | Murder-Robbery | I. R. Wood, white [13] | ||
Robert Shelton | Black | M | June 15, 1928 | Mobile | Murder | Jane Shelton, black (wife) [14] | ||
Rodell Peoples | Black | M | July 20, 1928 | Jefferson | Murder | E. T. Lewis, white (Birmingham traffic officer) [15] | ||
Dock Jiles | Black | M | March 15, 1929 | Lee | Murder | Willie Ogletree, black [16] | ||
Will Carter | Black | 26 | M | July 26, 1929 | Jefferson | Murder | Sam Harris, white [17] | |
Charles Harris | Black | 38 | M | August 23, 1929 | Barbour | Murder | Jack Hines, white [18] | |
Silena Gilmore | Black | F | January 24, 1930 | Jefferson | Murder | Horace Johnson, white [19] [d] | ||
Jack Jarvis | White | 28 | M | March 14, 1930 | Mobile | Murder-Robbery | Claude D. Hurt, white [20] [e] | |
Roy Lee Miles | Black | 29 | M | June 20, 1930 | Bullock | Murder | J. F. Barbaree, white (deputy sheriff) [21] | |
Edgar Harris | Black | M | Marengo | Murder-Robbery | James Richmond Moss, 77, white [22] | |||
Jack Brown | Black | M | ||||||
Cleveland Malone | Black | M | February 27, 1931 | Talladega | Rape | Female, white [23] | Benjamin M. Miller | |
Moses Daniels | Black | 19 | M | March 27, 1931 | Montgomery | Rape | Female, white [24] [f] | |
Spencer Bates | Black | 27 | M | May 29, 1931 | Sumter | Murder | Tom McKinstry, 35, white [25] | |
William Stokes | Black | M | June 10, 1931 | St. Clair | Murder | Vester Myers, white [26] [g] | ||
Charlie Williams | Black | M | January 15, 1932 | Mobile | Rape | Female, 6, white [27] | ||
Richard Ashe | Black | 24 | M | Hale | Murder | Female, black [28] | ||
Isaac Mims | Black | M | March 11, 1932 | Lowndes | Murder-Robbery | John Clark, white [29] | ||
Percy Irvin | Black | M | ||||||
Charlie Jones | Black | M | February 3, 1933 | Jefferson | Murder | Female, black [30] | ||
Willie James Johnson | Black | M | Jack Hartzog, white [30] | |||||
George Meadows | Black | 27 | M | October 27, 1933 | Montgomery | Rape-Robbery | Female, white [31] | |
Solomon Roper | Black | 24 | M | February 9, 1934 | Dallas | Murder | Page Brazier, black [32] | |
Ernest Waller | Black | 21 | M | Murder | Daisy Montgomery, black (girlfriend) [33] | |||
Bennie Foster | Black | 21 | M | Murder | Clarence Sidney McCain, 58, white [34] | |||
Hardie White | Black | 32 | M | Mobile | Murder-Robbery | Luther Williams, white [35] | ||
John Thompson | Black | 38 | M | Murder | Henry Bloom, white [36] | |||
Ed Thomas | Black | M | March 1, 1935 | Hale | Murder-Robbery | Ray Johnson, white [37] | Bibb Graves | |
Blake Ruff | Black | M | March 22, 1935 | Clay | Murder | Four people, black [32] [h] | ||
Johnny Preston | Black | 36 | M | February 21, 1936 | Lee | Murder-Rape | Eloise Swanson, 10, black (niece) [38] | |
Robert Dudley | Black | 27 | M | March 20, 1936 | Jefferson | Murder | Elijah Crawford, black [39] | |
Eddie Roper | Black | 30 | M | John Donegan, white [40] | ||||
Henry Peterson | Black | 29 | M | March 27, 1936 | Montgomery | Murder | Rosa Lee Knox, black (common-law wife) [41] | |
Willie E. Bynum | Black | 26 | M | April 17, 1936 | Montgomery | Murder | Lee Mason, black [42] [i] | |
Jimmie Stewart | Black | 33 | M | May 15, 1936 | Montgomery | Murder | Hannah Langford, black (mother-in-law) [43] | |
Waddie Cosey | Black | 30 | M | Morgan | Murder | Otto Dilbeck, 19, white [44] | ||
Joseph Gast | White | 37 | M | June 5, 1936 | Talladega | Murder | Lillie Vera Gast, white (wife) [45] | |
Gabriel Waters | Black | 19 | M | June 12, 1936 | Sumter | Murder | Lock Sheffield, white [46] | |
Tyrie Harrell | Black | 44 | M | Elmore | Murder | Chester Estes, 29, white [47] | ||
Wesley Vincent | White | 20 | M | Jefferson | Murder | Forrest J. Harris, white (policeman) [48] | ||
Walter Miller | Black | 38 | M | June 19, 1936 | Madison | Murder-Rape | Vivian Woodward, 19, white [49] | |
Elmer N. Arrant | White | 34 | M | Lowndes | Murder | Mr. and Mrs. John E. Norman, white [50] | ||
Tom Perkins | Black | 29 | M | July 3, 1936 | Monroe | Murder | Clifton McNeil, 24, white [41] | |
A. B. Smiley | Black | 30 | M | July 10, 1936 | Elmore | Murder | Pete Berry, black [51] [j] | |
Oscar Patterson | Black | 24 | M | July 31, 1936 | Coosa | Rape | Female, 7, white [52] | |
Ed Lee Summerville | Black | 35 | M | August 7, 1936 | Lowndes | Murder | Burt C. Johnson, white (chief deputy) [37] [k] | |
Edgar Prude Skelton | White | 36 | M | January 29, 1937 | Talladega | Murder-Robbery | Rev. John Pate, white [53] [l] | |
James Victor Franklin | White | 31 | M | February 26, 1937 | ||||
Roosevelt Collins | Black | 31 | M | June 11, 1937 | Calhoun | Rape | Female, 25, white [54] | |
Arthur Oliver | White | 46 | M | September 10, 1937 | Elmore | Murder | Vidie Oliver, white (wife) [55] | |
R. P. Vaughn | Black | 20 | M | January 28, 1938 | Mobile | Murder-Robbery | Sam Sanne, 57, white [56] | |
Frank Millhouse | Black | 18 | M | |||||
Gary Young | Black | 41 | M | July 22, 1938 | Mobile | Murder | Charles Emanuel, white [57] | |
Mack Davidson | Black | 28 | M | Baldwin | Robbery | T. R. Hunt, white [58] | ||
Willie James Whitfield | Black | 17 | M | August 19, 1938 | Montgomery | Murder | Fred Heins, white [59] | |
Curtis Cobb | Black | 22 | M | Jefferson | Rape | Female, white [60] | ||
Jimmie Brown | Black | 25 | M | November 25, 1938 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, white [61] | |
Conrad Vaughan | White | 27 | M | Murder | Annie Mae Adkins, white (girlfriend) [62] | |||
Adolph Smith | Black | 23 | M | December 30, 1938 | Geneva | Robbery | Ivy Sammons, white [63] | |
Fred Ware | Black | 24 | M | February 17, 1939 | Randolph | Rape | Female, white [64] | Frank M. Dixon |
Joe Lee Kennedy | Black | 33 | M | March 17, 1939 | Jefferson | Murder | Leo Johnson, black [65] | |
Edward Wimbush | Black | 22 | M | Murder-Robbery | J. O. Hall, white [66] | |||
Tom Williams | Black | 28 | M | April 14, 1939 | Elmore | Murder | Charlie Herren, 60, white [67] | |
Charles White | Black | 51 | M | June 9, 1939 | Pike | Rape | Female, 20, white [68] | |
Grady Tubbs | Black | 21 | M | Hale | Murder-Rape | Gola Zulla Lyles and Horace J. Nash, white [69] | ||
Joseph Frazier | Black | 22 | M | Marengo | Murder | Carolina Frazier, black (grandmother) [70] | ||
Ray Anderson | Black | 26 | M | Jefferson | Rape | Female, white [71] | ||
Robert Sanders | Black | 37 | M | July 7, 1939 | Montgomery | Murder | Willie Frank Talley, 49, white [72] | |
Mack Jackson | Black | 23 | M | August 18, 1939 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, white [71] | |
Calvin Tucker | Black | 24 | M | February 16, 1940 | Mobile | Murder | Hercules Burage, black [73] | |
Lonnie Avery | Black | 32 | M | March 15, 1940 | Bibb | Murder | Female, black (estranged wife) [74] | |
David Williams | Black | 22 | M | March 29, 1940 | Jefferson | Murder | Newt Garrison, white [75] | |
Mack Jackson | Black | 28 | M | Murder | Female, black (common-law wife) [76] | |||
Herman Bell | Black | 23 | M | Mobile | Rape | Female, 45, white [77] | ||
Judge Ragland | Black | 34 | M | May 3, 1940 | Lee | Murder-Robbery | Robert Capps, white [78] | |
David McGuire | Black | 25 | M | May 24, 1940 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | J. O. Hall, white [79] | |
Willie C. Williams | White | 31 | M | June 14, 1940 | Jefferson | Murder | J. T. Moser, white (detective) [80] | |
Willie James Brandon | Black | 23 | M | August 9, 1940 | Coffee | Rape | Female, white [81] | |
William Clark | Black | 18 | M | January 17, 1941 | Limestone | Rape | Mrs. Eugene Clem, white [82] | |
Julius Jackson | Black | 29 | M | July 11, 1941 | Talladega | Murder-Rape-Robbery | Leamon Shields and a woman, white [83] | |
Frank Bass | Black | 22 | M | August 8, 1941 | Morgan | Housebreaking-Burglary | Virginia Canterbury, white [84] | |
Robert Jones | Black | 24 | M | Greene | Murder | Mellie Jones, black (estranged wife) [85] | ||
Albert Dyer | White | 34 | M | January 9, 1942 | Jefferson | Murder | A woman (estranged wife) and Dorothy Lymance, 18 and 22, white [86] | |
Dock Powell | Black | 27 | M | January 23, 1942 | Clay | Murder-Rape | Mary Webster Garrison, 45, white [87] | |
Bud Phelps Herring | Black | 69 | M | March 13, 1942 | Coffee | Murder-Rape | Eunice Peacock, 33, white [88] | |
Esker W. Gipson | White | 32 | M | Mobile | Murder | Six people, white [89] [m] | ||
Ed Hayes Jr. | Black | 34 | M | May 1, 1942 | Marengo | Murder-Robbery | Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Jackson, 47 and 39, white [90] | |
Clarence Hardy | Black | 42 | M | Jefferson | Murder | E. H. Akers, 41, white [91] [n] | ||
William N. Snead | Black | 34 | M | June 26, 1942 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, 16, white [92] [o] | |
William M. Patterson | Black | 25 | M | Murder | Mattie Patterson, black (estranged wife) [93] | |||
Paul Mealer | White | 39 | M | July 10, 1942 | Talladega | Murder | Laura Mealer, white (wife) [94] | |
Haywood Bossie | Black | 24 | M | February 19, 1943 | Marengo | Murder | John C. Reed, white (Faunsdale town marshal) [95] | Chauncey Sparks |
Frank Johnson | Black | 24 | M | June 4, 1943 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, 18, white [96] [p] | |
Leroy Goldsmith | Black | 38 | M | August 6, 1943 | Montgomery | Murder | James Davis, 65, white [97] [q] | |
Curtis Robinson | Black | 20 | M | August 13, 1943 | Mobile | Rape | Female, white [98] | |
Henry Daniels Jr. | Black | 19 | M | |||||
Lewis Mitchell | Black | 28 | M | March 24, 1944 | Montgomery | Murder | Jesse Davis, black (love interest) [99] [r] | |
Joe Vernon | Black | 38 | M | November 3, 1944 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | Bennie Montgomery, white [100] | |
Daniel T. Reedy | White | 21 | M | March 16, 1945 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, white [101] [s] | |
Joseph H. Hockenberry | White | 23 | M | |||||
Ed Lucky Patton | Black | 45 | M | July 20, 1945 | Hale | Murder | James C. Findlay and John Parker, 37 and 39, white [102] | |
Peter Paul Hall | Black | 23 | M | January 18, 1946 | Barbour | Murder-Rape | Ethel Luck, 17, white [103] | |
Ernest Johnson | Black | 17 | M | January 25, 1946 | Hale | Murder-Robbery | Jack T. Walton, 63, white [96] | |
Richard Brown | Black | 18 | M | February 1, 1946 | ||||
Elbert Burns | White | 65 | M | March 15, 1946 | Jefferson | Murder | Jake Prescott, white [104] [t] | |
Robert S. Pilley | White | 26 | M | April 19, 1946 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | George Nolan Goatley, white [105] | |
Fred Hicks | Black | 33 | M | May 24, 1946 | Hale | Murder-Robbery | Fanny Webster, black [106] | |
Lester Wingard | Black | M | Montgomery | Murder | Herbert Athey, white [107] | |||
Joe Mincey | Black | 30 | M | July 14, 1946 | Pike | Murder-Robbery | Jimmy John Hanson, white [108] | |
William Edgar Alston | White | 41 | M | August 16, 1946 | Talladega | Murder | Christine Alston, white (estranged wife) [109] [u] | |
Johnnie B. Smith | Black | 24 | M | December 13, 1946 | Talladega | Rape | Female, white [110] | |
Booker T. Brooks | Black | 31 | M | March 14, 1947 | Chambers | Murder | Leslie Brooks, white [13] [v] | Jim Folsom |
Israel Garrett | Black | 45 | M | May 23, 1947 | Russell | Murder | Ruby Tolliver, black [111] [w] | |
John Henry Munson Jr. | Black | 28 | M | March 19, 1948 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | Gertrude Geer, black [112] | |
Noel J. Grant | White | 40 | M | Baldwin | Murder | Gertha Grant, white (wife) [113] | ||
Phillip Cobb | Black | 24 | M | March 11, 1949 | Montgomery | Murder | Jesse Porter, black (boyfriend) [114] [x] | |
Perry Lee Haygood | Black | 26 | M | March 18, 1949 | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | W. J. Trotter, white [115] | |
Buster Snead | Black | 42 | M | March 25, 1949 | Bibb | Murder | Ellen Mason, black [92] | |
J. C. Winters | Black | 20 | M | August 12, 1949 | Elmore | Murder | Clyde A. Peak Jr., 15, white [116] [y] | |
Nehemiah Green | Black | 26 | M | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | Thomas C. Solomon, white [117] | ||
Charlie Smith | Black | 25 | M | May 26, 1950 | Mobile | Murder-Robbery | Monroe Young Jackson, white [118] | |
Joe Keith | Black | 29 | M | July 21, 1950 | Limestone | Murder | Queenie Clements, 80, white [119] | |
Homer Garland Odom | White | 23 | M | Jefferson | Murder-Robbery | William Alexander McDonald, 71, white [120] | ||
Claude B. Sims | Black | 20 | M | Murder-Robbery | John Harden, white [121] | |||
Andrew Lee Smith | Black | 31 | M | May 2, 1952 | Jefferson | Murder | Stanford R. Howton and Sam Linn, white (Graysville police chief and constable) [122] | Gordon Persons |
Cooper Drake | Black | 31 | M | Shelby | Murder-Rape | Female and male, 4 (male), white [123] [z] | ||
Levert Forrest | Black | 27 | M | May 9, 1952 | Mobile | Murder | Ulysses Alberson, white [124] | |
Desmond Miles | White | 35 | M | October 10, 1952 | Covington | Murder | James Alton Hill, white [125] | |
Reuben Myhand | Black | 20 | M | August 28, 1953 | Geneva | Rape | Female, 13, white [126] | |
Earle Dennison | White | 54 | F | September 4, 1953 | Elmore | Murder | Shirley Diann Weldon, 2, white (niece) [127] [aa] | |
Will Hardie | Black | 54 | M | January 22, 1954 | Talladega | Murder | J. Foster King and Homer F. Hubbard, white (Tuscaloosa city detective and patrolman) [128] [ab] | |
Arthur Lee Grimes | Black | 23 | M | April 23, 1954 | Russell | Murder-Robbery | Daniel W. and Mattie Vann Pearce, 64 and 57, white [129] | |
Albert Lee Jones | Black | 23 | M | |||||
Jesse Frank Jackson | Black | 23 | M | June 4, 1954 | Montgomery | Rape | Female, white [130] | |
Melvin Jackson | Black | 20 | M | September 28, 1956 | Russell | Rape | Female, white [131] | Jim Folsom |
Clarence Johnson | Black | 56 | M | March 22, 1957 | Talladega | Murder | Homer Smith, white [132] [ac] | |
Rhonda Belle Martin | White | 48 | F | October 11, 1957 | Montgomery | Murder | Claude Martin, white (husband) [133] [ad] | |
Jeremiah Reeves | Black | 23 | M | March 28, 1958 | Montgomery | Rape | Female, white [134] | |
Ernest Cornell Walker | Black | 25 | M | December 4, 1959 | Jefferson | Rape | Female, 48, white [135] | John M. Patterson |
Edwin Ray Dockery | White | 25 | M | December 11, 1959 | Morgan | Murder-Robbery | Willie Thelbert Heatherly, white [136] | |
Columbus Boggs | Black | 27 | M | April 29, 1960 | Dallas | Murder | M. L. Chance, white [137] | |
Joe Henry Johnson | Black | 19 | M | November 24, 1961 | Limestone | Murder-Rape | Dicie Boyd, 61, white [138] | |
Wilmon Gosa | Black | 43 | M | August 31, 1962 | Talladega | Murder | Sheila Gosa, 5, black (daughter) [139] | |
James Coburn | White | 38 | M | September 4, 1964 | Dallas | Robbery [ae] | Mamie Belle Walker, 45, white (ex-girlfriend) [140] | George Wallace |
William Frank Bowen Jr. | White | 33 | M | January 15, 1965 | Madison | Murder | Janice Thomas, white [141] |