The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Nebraska since its statehood.
Four people convicted of murder have been executed by Nebraska since 1976. [1] Three were executed by electrocution. On April 21, 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court set the first execution date via lethal injection for June 14, 2011. On May 26, 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court stayed the execution due to objections that the sodium thiopental that Nebraska purchased from a Mumbai company failed to comply with U.S. pharmaceutical standards. The state's first lethal injection was carried out on August 14, 2018. [2]
No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harold Lamont Otey | Black | 43 | M | September 2, 1994 | Douglas | Electrocution | Jane McManus | Ben Nelson |
2 | John Joseph Joubert | White | 33 | M | July 17, 1996 | Sarpy | Danny Eberle and Christopher Walden A | ||
3 | Robert E. Williams | Black | 61 | M | December 2, 1997 | Lancaster | Catherine Brooks and Patricia McGarry B | ||
4 | Carey Dean Moore | White | 60 | M | August 14, 2018 | Douglas | Lethal injection | Maynard D. Helgeland and Reuel Eugene Van Ness Jr. | Pete Ricketts |
Race | ||
---|---|---|
Black | 2 | 50% |
White | 2 | 50% |
Age | ||
30–39 | 1 | 25% |
40–49 | 1 | 25% |
50–59 | 0 | 0% |
60–69 | 2 | 50% |
Sex | ||
Male | 4 | 100% |
Date of execution | ||
1976–1979 | 0 | 0% |
1980–1989 | 0 | 0% |
1990–1999 | 3 | 75% |
2000–2009 | 0 | 0% |
2010–2019 | 1 | 25% |
2020–2029 | 0 | 0% |
Method | ||
Electrocution | 3 | 75% |
Lethal injection | 1 | 25% |
Governor (Party) | ||
J. James Exon (D) | 0 | 0% |
Charles Thone (R) | 0 | 0% |
Bob Kerrey (D) | 0 | 0% |
Kay A. Orr (R) | 0 | 0% |
Ben Nelson (D) | 3 | 75% |
Mike Johanns (R) | 0 | 0% |
Dave Heineman (R) | 0 | 0% |
Pete Ricketts (R) | 1 | 25% |
Jim Pillen (R) | 0 | 0% |
Total | 4 | 100% |
A John Joubert was also tried and convicted of murdering Ricky Stetson in Portland, Maine. He received a life sentence in Maine. |
B Robert E. Williams also murdered Virginia Rowe of Sioux Rapids, Iowa. [3] [4] |
The first execution in Nebraska reportedly was of Cyrus Tator, a former Kansas Legislature member and judge in Lykins County, Kansas who was tried and convicted of murdering his business partner in 1863. [5] Before 1903, counties carried out executions until the state took over. Since Nebraska statehood in 1867, a total of 14 people have been executed.
No. | Executed person | Date of execution | Method | Crime | Victims | Under Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stephen D. Richards | April 26, 1879 | Hanging | Murder | Peter Anderson and Harlson family | Silas Garber |
2 | Orlando Caslar | May 20, 1879 | George L. Monroe | Albinus Nance | ||
3 | Milton W. Smith | July 24, 1885 | His wife (name unknown) | James W. Dawes | ||
4 | Jim Reynolds | May 21, 1886 | James and John Pinkston | |||
5 | William Jackson Marion A | March 25, 1887 | John Cameron | John Milton Thayer | ||
6 | David Hoffman | July 22, 1887 | James B. DeWitt | |||
7 | Albert Haunstine | May 17, 1891 | Hiram Roten and William Ashley | |||
8 | Christian Furst B | June 5, 1891 | Carl J. Pulsifer | |||
9 | Charles Shepherd B | |||||
10 | Ed Neil | October 9, 1891 | Allen and Dorothy Jones | |||
11 | Clinton E. Dixon C | June 24, 1892 | Corporal Thomas Carter | James E. Boyd | ||
12 | Harry Hill | March 1, 1895 | Mattes Akeson | Silas A. Holcomb | ||
13 | Claude H. Hoover | August 7, 1896 | Samual DuBois | |||
14 | George W. Morgan | October 8, 1897 | Ida Gaskill | |||
A William Jackson Marion was convicted and executed for the murder of John Cameron. However, Cameron turned up alive in 1891. Marion received a posthumous pardon by Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey on the 100th anniversary of his execution. |
B B Although Christian Furst and Charles Shepherd are listed at 8 and 9, the two were hanged together simultaneously in the only double hanging in Nebraska's history. |
C Private Clinton Dixon and his victim Corporal Thomas Carter were both members of the U.S. Army (Sixth U.S. Cavalry) making Dixon's execution a U.S. military execution. As such, only the President could grant clemency. President Benjamin Harrison declined to intervene. |
A total of 20 people were executed by Nebraska after 1897 and before the 1972 Supreme Court capital punishment ban.
No. | Executed person | Date of execution | Method | Crime | Victims | Under Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gottlieb Neigenfiend | March 13, 1903 | Hanging | Murder | Anna Bryer and Albert Bryer (ex-wife and ex-father in law) | John H. Mickey |
2 | William Rhea | July 10, 1903 | Herman Zahn | |||
3 | Harrison Clark | December 13, 1907 | Ed Flury | George L. Sheldon | ||
4 | Frank Barker | January 17, 1908 | Daniel and Alice Barker (his brother and sister in law) | |||
5 | Robert M. Shumway | March 5, 1909 | Sarah Martin | Ashton C. Shallenberger | ||
6 | Bert M. Taylor | January 28, 1910 | Pearl Taylor (sister in law) | |||
7 | Thomas Johnson | May 19, 1911 | Henry R. Frankland | Chester H. Aldrich | ||
8 | Albert Prince | March 21, 1913 | Nebraska State Penitentiary Deputy Warden Edward D.Davis | John H. Morehead | ||
9 | Allen V. Grammer A | December 20, 1920 | Electrocution | Lulu Vogt (Allen Grammer's mother in law) | Samuel R. McKelvie | |
10 | Alson B. Cole A | |||||
11 | James B. King | June 9, 1922 | Nebraska State Penitentiary prison guard Robert L. Taylor | |||
12 | Walter R. Simmons | August 11, 1925 | Frank Pahl | Adam McMullen | ||
13 | Henry E. Bartlett | April 29, 1927 | Asa Ranson (Minden, Nebraska Police Chief) | |||
14 | Frank Carter | June 24, 1927 | William McDevitt and Dr. A.D. Searles | |||
15 | Frank E. Sharp | October 19, 1928 | Hariet Sharp (his wife) | |||
16 | Henry Sherman | May 31, 1929 | Roger and Hattie Pochon, Eugenie Pochon | Arthur J. Weaver | ||
17 | Joseph T. MacAvoy | March 23, 1945 | Anna Milroy | Dwight Griswold | ||
18 | Timothy Iron Bear | December 1, 1948 | John W. and Grace Stollar | Val Peterson | ||
19 | Roland Dean Sundahl | April 30, 1952 | Bonnie Lou Merrill | |||
20 | Charles Starkweather | June 25, 1959 | Robert Jensen | Ralph G. Brooks B | ||
A A Allen Grammer and Alson Cole were the first men electrocuted, and the only double electrocution in Nebraska. Allen Grammer was the first man to be electrocuted by the State of Nebraska, pronounced dead at 3:24 pm. Alson Cole was pronounced dead at 3:37 pm. |
B Although Charles Starkweather murdered 10 people in Nebraska (and one in Wyoming), he was tried, convicted, and executed for only one murder, that of 17-year-old Robert Jensen. |
The electric chair is a specialized device employed for carrying out capital punishment through the process of electrocution. During its use, the individual sentenced to death is securely strapped to a specially designed wooden chair and electrocuted via strategically positioned electrodes affixed to the head and leg. This method of execution was conceptualized by Alfred P. Southwick, a dentist based in Buffalo, New York, in 1881. Over the following decade, this execution technique was developed further, aiming to provide a more humane alternative to the conventional forms of execution, particularly hanging. The electric chair was first utilized in 1890 and subsequently became known as a symbol of this method of execution.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 19 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Arkansas.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Ohio, although all executions have been suspended indefinitely by Governor Mike DeWine until a replacement for lethal injection is chosen by the Ohio General Assembly. The last execution in the state was in July 2018, when Robert J. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for murder.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Nebraska. In 2015, the state legislature voted to repeal the death penalty, overriding governor Pete Ricketts' veto. However, a petition drive secured enough signatures to suspend the repeal until a public vote. In the November 2016 general election, voters rejected the repeal measure, preserving capital punishment in the state. Nebraska currently has 12 inmates on death row.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Old Sparky is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Old Smokey was the nickname of the electric chairs used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. "Old Sparky" is sometimes used to refer to electric chairs in general, and not one of a specific state.
The use of capital punishment by the United States military is a legal punishment in martial criminal justice. Despite its legality, capital punishment has not been imposed by the U.S. military in over sixty years.
Capital punishment in Connecticut formerly existed as an available sanction for a criminal defendant upon conviction for the commission of a capital offense. Since the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia until Connecticut repealed capital punishment in 2012, Connecticut had only executed one person, Michael Bruce Ross in 2005. Initially, the 2012 law allowed executions to proceed for those still on death row and convicted under the previous law, but on August 13, 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that applying the death penalty only for past cases was unconstitutional.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia reintroduced the death penalty in 1973 after Furman v. Georgia ruled all states' death penalty statutes unconstitutional. The first execution to take place afterwards occurred in 1983.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Between 1718 and 2021, more than 680 people have been executed in South Carolina. After the nationwide capital punishment ban was overturned in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 people.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Tennessee.
Carey Dean Moore was a convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection by the state of Nebraska. It was the first execution in Nebraska using lethal injection, and the state's first execution since 1997. The execution was the first in the United States to use fentanyl.