List of people executed in Nebraska

Last updated

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Nebraska since its statehood.

Contents

Post-Gregg

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.NameRaceAgeSexDate of executionCountyMethodVictim(s)Governor
1 Harold Lamont Otey Black43MSeptember 2, 1994 Douglas Electrocution Jane McManus Ben Nelson
2 John Joseph Joubert White33MJuly 17, 1996 Sarpy Danny Eberle and Christopher Walden [a]
3 Robert E. Williams Black61MDecember 2, 1997 Lancaster Catherine Brooks and Patricia McGarry [b]
4 Carey Dean Moore White60MAugust 14, 2018 Douglas Lethal injection Maynard D. Helgeland and Reuel Eugene Van Ness Jr. Pete Ricketts

Demographics

Race
Black250%
White250%
Age
30–39125%
40–49125%
50–5900%
60–69250%
Sex
Male4100%
Date of execution
1976–197900%
1980–198900%
1990–1999375%
2000–200900%
2010–2019125%
2020–202900%
Method
Electrocution 375%
Lethal injection 125%
Governor (Party)
J. James Exon (D) 00%
Charles Thone (R) 00%
Bob Kerrey (D) 00%
Kay A. Orr (R) 00%
Ben Nelson (D) 375%
Mike Johanns (R) 00%
Dave Heineman (R) 00%
Pete Ricketts (R) 125%
Jim Pillen (R) 00%
Total4100%

Pre-Furman

Before 1903

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 personDate of executionMethodCrimeVictimsUnder Governor
1 Stephen D. Richards April 26, 1879 Hanging MurderPeter Anderson and Harlson family Silas Garber
2Orlando CaslarMay 20, 1879George L. Monroe Albinus Nance
3Milton W. SmithJuly 24, 1885His wife (name unknown) James W. Dawes
4Jim ReynoldsMay 21, 1886James and John Pinkston
5 William Jackson Marion [c] March 25, 1887John Cameron John Milton Thayer
6David HoffmanJuly 22, 1887James B. DeWitt
7Albert HaunstineMay 17, 1891Hiram Roten and William Ashley
8Christian Furst [d] June 5, 1891Carl J. Pulsifer
9Charles Shepherd [d]
10Ed NeilOctober 9, 1891Allen and Dorothy Jones
11Clinton E. Dixon [e] June 24, 1892Corporal Thomas Carter James E. Boyd
12Harry HillMarch 1, 1895Mattes Akeson Silas A. Holcomb
13Claude H. HooverAugust 7, 1896Samual DuBois
14George W. MorganOctober 8, 1897Ida Gaskill

1903–1972

A total of 20 people were executed by Nebraska after 1897 and before the 1972 Supreme Court capital punishment ban.

No.Executed personDate of executionMethodCrimeVictimsUnder Governor
1Gottlieb NeigenfiendMarch 13, 1903 Hanging MurderAnna Bryer and Albert Bryer (ex-wife and ex-father in law) John H. Mickey
2William RheaJuly 10, 1903Herman Zahn
3Harrison ClarkDecember 13, 1907Ed Flury George L. Sheldon
4Frank BarkerJanuary 17, 1908Daniel and Alice Barker (his brother and sister in law)
5Robert M. ShumwayMarch 5, 1909Sarah Martin Ashton C. Shallenberger
6Bert M. TaylorJanuary 28, 1910Pearl Taylor (sister in law)
7Thomas JohnsonMay 19, 1911Henry R. Frankland Chester H. Aldrich
8Albert PrinceMarch 21, 1913Nebraska State Penitentiary Deputy Warden Edward D.Davis John H. Morehead
9Allen V. Grammer [f] December 20, 1920 Electrocution Lulu Vogt (Allen Grammer's mother in law) Samuel R. McKelvie
10Alson B. Cole [f]
11James B. KingJune 9, 1922Nebraska State Penitentiary prison guard Robert L. Taylor
12Walter R. SimmonsAugust 11, 1925Frank Pahl Adam McMullen
13Henry E. BartlettApril 29, 1927Asa Ranson (Minden, Nebraska Police Chief)
14 Frank Carter June 24, 1927William McDevitt and Dr. A.D. Searles
15Frank E. SharpOctober 19, 1928Hariet Sharp (his wife)
16Henry ShermanMay 31, 1929Roger and Hattie Pochon, Eugenie Pochon Arthur J. Weaver
17Joseph T. MacAvoyMarch 23, 1945Anna Milroy Dwight Griswold
18Timothy Iron BearDecember 1, 1948John W. and Grace Stollar Val Peterson
19 Roland Dean Sundahl April 30, 1952Bonnie Lou Merrill
20 Charles Starkweather June 25, 1959Robert Jensen [g] Ralph G. Brooks

See also

Notes

  1. John Joubert was also tried and convicted of murdering Ricky Stetson in Portland, Maine. He received a life sentence in Maine.
  2. Robert E. Williams also murdered Virginia Rowe of Sioux Rapids, Iowa. [3] [4]
  3. 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.
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 1 2 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 p.m. Alson Cole was pronounced dead at 3:37 p.m.
  7. 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.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric chair</span> Execution method

The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New York dentist, conceived this execution method in 1881. It was developed over the next decade as a more humane alternative to conventional executions, particularly hanging. First used in 1890, the electric chair became symbolic of this execution method.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span>

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty in 27 states, throughout the country at the federal level, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in the other 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, 20 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Louisiana</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Ohio</span>

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 11 inmates on death row.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Sparky</span> Nickname for electric chairs

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 is 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.

Kenneth Biros was an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to death and executed for the aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery and felonious sexual penetration of a young woman. Biros was the first condemned person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States with the use of a single drug, setting a Guinness World Record.

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 capital punishment only for past cases was unconstitutional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Florida</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Mississippi</span>

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 Arizona. 95 executions have been carried out since Arizona became a state in 1914 and there are currently 111 people on death row. In November 2024, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that the state would resume executions in 2025 after a 2-year pause.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Carey Dean Moore</span> 2018 execution in Nebraska

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.

References

  1. "Execution Database". Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  2. "NDCS carries out execution of Carey Dean Moore | NDCS - Nebraska Department of Correctional Services". corrections.nebraska.gov. Lincoln, Nebraska. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. "Inmate Details: 31861 -- Robert Williams". Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
  4. Matthew Waite (3 December 1997). "Williams marks state's third electrocution". Daily Nebraskan. Archived from the original on 27 Oct 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  5. "The Execution of Cyrus Tator," NorthOmahaHistory.com.