The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of South Dakota from 1877 to date. A total of 20 people have been executed in South Dakota since 1877. Prior to 1915, the sole method of execution was via hanging. South Dakota banned the death penalty in 1915, but it was reinstated in 1939. The method of execution was then changed to electrocution. [1]
Capital punishment was reinstated in South Dakota in 1979 following the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Gregg v. Georgia . The method of execution was changed from electrocution to lethal injection in 1984. [1] Since 1979, a total of 5 people have been executed, all by lethal injection. [2] With the exception of Charles Rhines, all of them had waived their appeals.
| No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elijah Page | White | 25 | M | July 11, 2007 | Lawrence | Lethal injection | Chester Allan Poage | Mike Rounds |
| 2 | Eric Donald Robert | White | 50 | M | October 15, 2012 | Minnehaha | Correctional Officer Ronald Johnson | Dennis Daugaard | |
| 3 | Donald Eugene Moeller | White | 60 | M | October 30, 2012 | Lincoln | Becky O'Connell | ||
| 4 | Rodney Scott Berget | White | 56 | M | October 29, 2018 | Minnehaha | Correctional Officer Ronald Johnson | ||
| 5 | Charles Russell Rhines | White | 63 | M | November 4, 2019 | Pennington | Donnivan Schaeffer | Kristi Noem |
| Race | ||
|---|---|---|
| White | 5 | 100% |
| Age | ||
| 20–29 | 1 | 20% |
| 30–39 | 0 | 0% |
| 40–49 | 0 | 0% |
| 50–59 | 2 | 40% |
| 60–69 | 2 | 40% |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 5 | 100% |
| Date of execution | ||
| 1976–1979 | 0 | 0% |
| 1980–1989 | 0 | 0% |
| 1990–1999 | 0 | 0% |
| 2000–2009 | 1 | 20% |
| 2010–2019 | 4 | 80% |
| 2020–2029 | 0 | 0% |
| Method | ||
| Lethal injection | 5 | 100% |
| Governor (Party) | ||
| Richard F. Kneip (D) | 0 | 0% |
| Harvey Wollman (D) | 0 | 0% |
| Bill Janklow (R) | 0 | 0% |
| George S. Mickelson (R) | 0 | 0% |
| Walter Dale Miller (R) | 0 | 0% |
| Mike Rounds (R) | 1 | 20% |
| Dennis Daugaard (R) | 3 | 60% |
| Kristi Noem (R) | 1 | 20% |
| Larry Rhoden (R) | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 5 | 100% |
| No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack McCall | White | 24 | M | March 1, 1877 | Hanging | Wild Bill Hickok | John L. Pennington |
| 2 | Thomas Egan | White | 46/47 | M | July 13, 1882 | Mary Egan [a] [3] | Nehemiah G. Ordway | |
| 3 | Brave Bear | Native American | — | M | November 15, 1882 | Joseph Johnson | ||
| 4 | James Leighton Gilmore | White | 24 | M | December 15, 1882 | Bisente Ortez | ||
| 5 | John Benjamin Lehman | White | — | M | February 19, 1892 | Constable James H. Burns | Arthur C. Mellette | |
| 6 | Nathaniel R. Thompson | White | 62 | M | October 20, 1893 | Electa Blighton | Charles H. Sheldon | |
| 7 | Jay Hicks | White | 28 | M | November 15, 1894 | John Meyer | ||
| 8 | Chief Two Sticks | Native American | — | M | December 28, 1894 | Four victims | ||
| 9 | Charles Brown | Black | 54 | M | July 14, 1897 | Emma Stone | Andrew E. Lee | |
| 10 | Ernest Loveswar | Native American | — | M | September 19, 1902 | George Puck and George Ostrander | Charles N. Herreid | |
| 11 | Allen Walking Shield | Native American | — | M | October 21, 1902 | Ghost-Faced Bear | ||
| 12 | George Bear | Native American | 41 | M | December 5, 1902 | C. Edward Taylor and John Shaw | ||
| 13 | Emil Victor | White | 20/21 | M | November 16, 1909 | Mr. and Mrs. James Christie, Mildred Christie, and Michael Ronayne | Robert S. Vessey | |
| 14 | Joseph Rickman | Black | — | M | December 3, 1913 | Ellen Fox and Mildred Fox | Frank M. Byrne | |
| 15 | George Sitts | White | 33 | M | April 8, 1947 | Electrocution | Special state agent Thomas Matthews [b] | George T. Mickelson |