List of people executed in the United States in 1941

One hundred and twenty-three people, one hundred and twenty-two male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1941, eighty-five by electrocution, twenty-three by gas chamber, and fifteen by hanging. ^[1]

List of people executed in the United States in 1941

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 3, 1941	Eddie Hayes	19	18	1	Male	Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
2		Johnnie Watson	33	32
3		Columbus Richardson	28	26	2			Kentucky		[2]
4		Wilburn Johnson	39	39	0			Missouri	Gas chamber	[3]
5	January 9, 1941	Major Greenfield	33	32	1			New York	Electrocution	[1]
6	January 10, 1941	Joe Coates	63	61	2			Colorado	Gas chamber	[4]
7		Wilson J. Knott	33	33	0		White	Maryland	Hanging	[5]
8	January 14, 1941	Curnel T. Robinson	34	34			Black	Delaware		[6]
9		Anthony Cirasole	31	30	1		White	Ohio	Electrocution	[7]
10		Joseph DiMarco	24	23
11	January 17, 1941	William Clark	18	16	2		Black	Alabama		[8]
12	January 24, 1941	John Mooney	27	27	0			Arkansas		[1]
13	January 30, 1941	Arley Ovoyd Lewis	29	28	1		White	Washington	Hanging	[9]
14	January 31, 1941	Dewitt Clinton Cook	22	20	2			California	Gas chamber	[10]
15		Josiah Woodward	21	21	0		Black	South Carolina	Electrocution	[1]
16	February 6, 1941	Eugene Brown	26	24	2			New York		[11]
17		Norman Williams	32	30
18	February 6, 1941	Hugh McClain Evans	22	22	0		White	South Carolina		[12]
19		Willis Evans	19	18	1
20		Hampton Lee	25	24
21		James Claude Hann	28	27
22	February 13, 1941	Arcangelo D'Agosto	27	26				New York		[13]
23		Walter Dowling	21	20
24		George Dolny	23	22
25	February 20, 1941	David Adler	27	26						[14]
26		Hyman Balatnicov	28	27
27		Joseph Patrick Carosella	26	25
28	February 21, 1941	Ascension Martinez	37	30	7		Hispanic	Texas		[15]
29		Theodia Muldrow	19	18	1		Black			[16]
30	February 25, 1941	William John Sevastis	55	54			White	Ohio		[17]
31	March 7, 1941	William Meharg	25	25	0			Louisiana	Hanging	[18]
32		Floyd Boyce	29	28	1
33		William Heard	43	42
34		William Landers	39	38
35	March 24, 1941	Denzel B. Davis	24	23				Washington		[19]
36	March 31, 1941	Paul Petrillo	49	39	10			Pennsylvania	Electrocution	[20]
37	April 11, 1941	Will Hood	29	Unknown	Unknown		Black	South Carolina		[1]
38	April 15, 1941	Richard Smith	48	38	10			Florida		[21]
39	April 18, 1941	Thomas Benjamin Smith	60	58	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[22]
40		Dollie Lee Hudson	27	25			Black	North Carolina		[23]
41		Van Gilmore	31	30	1			Tennessee	Electrocution	[1]
42	April 20, 1941	George Griffin	26	25				Texas		[24]
43	April 22, 1941	Leo Joseph Rousseau	30	29	1		White	Massachusetts		[25]
44	May 2, 1941	Sylvester Woodard	34	Unknown	Unknown		Black	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[26]
45	May 12, 1941	William Bland	23	Unknown	Unknown			Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
46	May 15, 1941	A.C. Payton	41	Unknown	Unknown			Arkansas
47		James Grady White	38	37	1		White	Mississippi		[27]
48	May 16, 1941	Booker T. Childress	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		Black			[28]
49	May 23, 1941	Charlie Anderson	18	Unknown	Unknown			Georgia		[1]
50		Willie Jenkins	23	19	4
51		Matthew Douglas	32	32	0			Mississippi		[29]
52		James Shaw	Unknown	Unknown				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[30]
53	June 5, 1941	Peter Salemi	33	32	1		White	New York	Electrocution	[31]
54	June 6, 1941	Percy Lee Lewis	30	29			Black	Arkansas		[32]
55		Fleet Jack Wall	33	32				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[1]
56		Tommie Harris	20	19				Texas	Electrocution	[33]
57	June 12, 1941	Martin Goldstein	36	34	2		White	New York		[34]
58		Harry Strauss	31	30	1
59	June 13, 1941	Noah Cureton	51	50			Black	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[35]
60	June 20, 1941	John Henry Riney	25	25	0			Arkansas	Electrocution	[36]
61		James Stephens	76	74	2		White	Colorado	Gas chamber	[37]
62		Orville C. Watson	31	29				Illinois	Electrocution	[38]
63		Edward Riley	27	25
64	June 27, 1941	French Lee White	23	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Maryland	Hanging	[39]
65	July 4, 1941	Grover Chism	48	47	1	White	Kentucky	Electrocution	[40]
66	July 10, 1941	Stanley Cole	35	33	2		New York		[41]
67		Dewey Garrett	21	20	1	Black
68	July 11, 1941	Julius Jackson	29	28			Alabama		[42]
69		Wong Don Kay	57	56		Asian	California	Gas chamber	[43]
70		Heyward Daniels	28	56	Unknown	Black	South Carolina	Electrocution	[1]
71	July 18, 1941	Walter Reed	55	55	0		Tennessee
72	July 24, 1941	Willie Lee Porter	21	20	1				[44]
73		Carl Leonard Cole	19	18
74	July 30, 1941	Lawrence West	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown				[1]
75	August 8, 1941	Frank Bass	22	Unknown	Unknown		Alabama		[45]
76		Robert Jones	24	Unknown	Unknown
77	August 15, 1941	Benjamin Heyward	Unknown	Unknown	16		South Carolina		[46]
78	August 22, 1941	Hubert Yober Cash	40	39	1	White	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[47]
79	August 24, 1941	Arlin Fairfax Reese	46	45			Texas	Electrocution	[48]
80	August 29, 1941	Eldon Richard Hawk	26	25			California	Gas chamber	[49]
81		John William Lininger	40	39
82		William Smiddy	37	36			Kentucky	Electrocution	[50]
83		Warren Lorenzo Abby	57	55	2		Oklahoma		[51]
84	September 5, 1941	William L. Johansen	36	30	6		California	Gas chamber	[52]
85		Tom Melvin	42	40	2	Black	North Carolina		[53]
86	September 11, 1941	Eugene Johnson	22	Unknown	Unknown		Louisiana	Electrocution	[1]
87	September 18, 1941	George Zeitz	26	24	2	White	New York		[54]
88	September 19, 1941	Mariano Flores	54	Unknown	Unknown	Asian	Hawaii Territory	Hanging	[1]
89	September 26, 1941	John E. Reed	42	41	1	White	California	Gas chamber	[55]
90		Earl F. Loveless	22	21			Maryland	Hanging	[56]
91		James Lee Miller	30	29
92		Charlie Brown	26	Unknown	Unknown	Black	Virginia	Electrocution	[1]
93	October 6, 1941	Wilburn R. Crews	37	33	4	White	Florida		[57]
94		Dan Jordan Ormond	51	47
95		Charles Henderson	34	30		Black
96		Frizell McLaren		31	3
97	October 10, 1941	Albert Alford	32	Unknown	Unknown		Georgia		[1]
98		George Peele	21	20	1		North Carolina	Gas chamber
99	October 11, 1941	John Washington	32	Unknown	Unknown		Arkansas	Electrocution
100	October 20, 1941	Herman Petrillo	47	37	10	White	Pennsylvania		[58]
101	October 23, 1941	Austin Williams	30	Unknown	Unknown	Black	Louisiana		[59]
102	October 24, 1941	Anaclito Gagarin	37	35	2	Asian	Hawaii Territory	Hanging	[60]
103	October 27, 1941	Paul H. Mardorff	50	48		White	Florida	Electrocution	[61]
104		Mack Ranson	38	36		Black
105		William Joseph Earnest	36	35	1	White	Pennsylvania		[62]
106	October 30, 1941	James Harvey Thomas	19	19	0		Oregon	Gas chamber	[63]
107	November 12, 1941	Ivan Leon Sullivan	30	28	2		Iowa	Hanging	[64]
108	November 14, 1941	Milton L. Hawkins	25	23			Indiana	Electrocution	[65]
109		John Bruce Anderson	52	51	1		Washington	Hanging	[66]
110	November 21, 1941	Evelita Juanita Spinelli		50	2		Female	California	Gas chamber	[67]
111		Roy Long	27	Unknown	Unknown	Male	Black	South Carolina	Electrocution	[1]
112	November 24, 1941	Harold B. Frisbie	34	33	1		White	Pennsylvania		[68]
113		Willie Jones	Unknown	Unknown			Black
114	November 28, 1941	Gordon Hawkins	23	21	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[69]
115		Mike Simeone	32	31	1
116	December 2, 1941	William Zupkosky						New Jersey	Electrocution	[70]
117	December 12, 1941	Luther Morrow	26	26	0		Black	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[71]
118	December 19, 1941	James Baker	38	38				Maryland	Hanging	[72]
119		Thomas Williams	37	37				Ohio	Electrocution	[73]
120	December 28, 1941	Albert Wesley Jr.	19	18	1			Texas		[74]
121	December 29, 1941	Willie B. Clay		15	4			Florida		[75]
122		Edward Powell	18		3
123		Nathaniel Walker		14	4

Demographics

Gender
Male	122	99%
Female	1	1%
Ethnicity
Black	61	50%
White	58	47%
Asian	3	2%
Hispanic	1	1%
State
New York	15	12%
California	10	8%
Florida	10	8%
North Carolina	9	7%
South Carolina	9	7%
Georgia	6	5%
Louisiana	6	5%
Texas	6	5%
Arkansas	5	4%
Maryland	5	4%
Pennsylvania	5	4%
Tennessee	5	4%
Alabama	4	3%
Ohio	4	3%
Kentucky	3	2%
Mississippi	3	2%
Washington	3	2%
Colorado	2	2%
Hawaii Territory	2	2%
Illinois	2	2%
Delaware	1	1%
Indiana	1	1%
Iowa	1	1%
Massachusetts	1	1%
Missouri	1	1%
New Jersey	1	1%
Oklahoma	1	1%
Oregon	1	1%
Virginia	1	1%
Method
Electrocution	85	69%
Gas chamber	23	19%
Hanging	15	12%
Month
January	15	12%
February	15	12%
March	6	5%
April	7	6%
May	9	7%
June	12	10%
July	10	8%
August	9	7%
September	9	7%
October	14	11%
November	9	7%
December	8	7%
Age
Unknown	5	4%
10–19	11	9%
20–29	44	36%
30–39	39	32%
40–49	11	9%
50–59	10	8%
60–69	2	2%
70–79	1	1%
Total	123	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1942	147
1941	123
1940	124
Total	394

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved September 7, 2025.
2. "Smoky Richardson Dies In State Chair". Kentucky New Era. January 3, 1941. p. 3.
3. "Negro Dies in Prison Gas Tank". Jefferson City Post-Tribune via newspapers.com. January 3, 1941. p. 1.
4. "Hometown Headlines". St. Petersburg Times. January 13, 1941. p. 7.
5. "Hanged for Assault". Toledo Blade. January 10, 1941. p. 3.
6. "Man Hangs in Delaware for Assaulting Girl". The Afro-American. January 25, 1941. p. 5.
7. "Calm Killers Go to Ohio's Chair". Ellensburg Daily Record. January 15, 1941. p. 1.
8. "Negro Rapist Will Die In Kilby Prison". The Tuscaloosa News. January 16, 1941. p. 2.
9. "Missourian Pays Penalty for Murder". Spokane Chronicle via newspapers.com. January 30, 1941. p. 14.
10. "Youthful Killer to Be Executed in California Today". The Owosso Argus-Press. January 31, 1941. p. 2.
11. "2 Go to Chair at Sing Sing". The New York Times. February 7, 1941.
12. "Three Electrocuted". Kentucky New Era. February 7, 1941. p. 2.
13. "3 Electrocuted For Garage Holdup-Slaying". Schenectady Gazette. February 14, 1941. p. 26.
14. "3 DIE, ONE GETS STAY i IN HOLD-UP MURDERS; Lehman Gives 60-Day Reprieve to Witness in Case Here". The New York Times. February 21, 1941.
15. "Mexican Is Executed With Prayer on Lips". The Victoria Advocate. February 21, 1941. p. 2.
16. "Valley Man is Executed". Valley Morning Star via newspapers.com. February 21, 1941. p. 1.
17. "Governor Last Hope of Men in Triple Slaying". The Portsmouth Times. February 25, 1941. p. 7.
18. "Condemned Men's Words On Air As They Pay Penalty". Ellensburg Daily Record. March 7, 1941. p. 1.
19. "Ice-Pick Slayer Dies on Gallows". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 24, 1941. p. 3.
20. "Poison Killer Dies in 'Chair'". The Pittsburgh Press. March 31, 1941. p. 19.
21. "Court Refuses to Stay Death for 2 Killers". The Pittsburgh Press. April 13, 1941. p. 6.
22. "People v. Smith". Stanford Law School.
23. "State v. Hudson". vLex.
24. "Negro Dies in Chair". The Spokesman-Review. April 21, 1941. p. 15.
25. "Leo Rousseau Dies in Electric Chair". Lewiston Evening Journal. April 22, 1941. p. 4.
26. "State v. Woodard". CaseMine.
27. "Portable Chair Gets First White Victim". The Tuscaloosa News. May 15, 1941. p. 1.
28. "Negro Executed". The Evening Independent. May 16, 1941. p. 15.
29. "Death Penalty for Assailant". Hattiesburg American via newspapers.com. April 11, 1941. p. 9.
30. "N.C. Prisoner Given Reprieve to Aid State". The Afro-American. May 31, 1941. p. 47.
31. "Brooklyn Slayer Goes to Chair". The New York Times. June 6, 1941.
32. "Negro Electrocuted". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 6, 1941. p. 10.
33. "Electrocuted in Texas". Youngstown Vindicator. June 6, 1941. p. 7.
34. "2 IN MURDER RING ARE PUT TO DEATH; Pittsburgh Phil Strauss and Buggsy Goldstein Go to Chair for Brooklyn Slaying". The New York Times. June 13, 1941.
35. "Doomed Man Sleeps Until Time to Walk Last Mile". The Afro-American. June 21, 1941. p. 2.
36. "Negro Rapist Dies In Electric Chair". The Evening Independent. June 20, 1941. p. 13.
37. "Oldest Man Executed In Colorado". San Jose News. June 21, 1941. p. 2.
38. "2 Men Electrocuted For Killing Bystander". Reading Eagle. June 20, 1941. p. 4.
39. "Bethesda Attacker to Be Hanged June 27". The Afro-American. June 21, 1941. p. 8.
40. "Chism v. Commonwealth". CaseMine.
41. "Two Put to Death In Sing Sing Prison". The Pittsburgh Press. July 11, 1941. p. 11.
42. "State Officers On Duty As Negro Goes On Trial". The Pittsburgh Press. February 24, 1941. p. 11.
43. "Chinese Killer Of Two Gassed". San Jose Evening News. July 11, 1941. p. 28.
44. "Negroes Die For Slaying". Kentucky New Era. July 24, 1941. p. 2.
45. "Negro Is First To Die For Night Burglary". The Tuscaloosa News. August 8, 1941. p. 2.
46. "Beaufort Slayer Dies in Chair". Herald-Journal. August 16, 1941. p. 1.
47. "Durham Man Is Put Under Gas". The Robesonian. August 22, 1941. p. 1.
48. "Reese v. State". vLex.
49. "Murderer Eagerly Goes To His 'Beautiful' Life". The Pittsburgh Press. August 29, 1941. p. 1.
50. "Slayer Calmly Goes To Chair At Eddyville". Kentucky New Era. August 29, 1941. p. 3.
51. "Louisiana Farmer Executed in Chair". The Victoria Advocate. August 29, 1941. p. 2.
52. "Murderer of Women is Put to Death". San Jose News. September 5, 1941. p. 7.
53. "Goldsboro Negro Dies In Chamber". The Robesonian via newspapers.com. September 5, 1941. p. 6.
54. "Brooklyn Killer Goes to Chair". The New York Times. September 19, 1941.
55. "People v. Reed". Stanford Law School.
56. "Funeral For Executed Man At Hagerstown Today". Cumberland Evening Times via newspapers.com. October 4, 1941. p. 7.
57. "Four Men Die in Chair; Executioner Is Hooded". St. Petersburg Times. October 7, 1941. p. 5.
58. "Herman Petrillo Dies In Chair Pleading For Mercy". Gettysburg Times. October 20, 1941. p. 3.
59. "Negro Executed". The Town Talk via newspapers.com. October 24, 1941. p. 13.
60. "Territory of Hawaii v. Gagarin". CourtListener.
61. "Two Are Executed In Florida Chair". The Evening Independent. October 27, 1941. p. 1.
62. "Slayer Executed in Pennsylvania". Herald-Journal. October 27, 1941. p. 1.
63. "Thomas Will Die in Gas Chamber". Spokane Daily Chronicle. October 29, 1941. p. 6.
64. "Slayed Guard; Hanged". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 12, 1941. p. 20.
65. "Young Slayer Dies in Chair". Warsaw Daily Union. November 15, 1941. p. 5.
66. "Henhouse Slayer Pays With Life In Prison Noose". Ellensburg Daily Record. November 14, 1941. p. 1.
67. "WOMAN EXECUTED IN GAS CHAMBER; Gang-Leading Grandmother, 52, First of Sex Legally Put to Death in California". The New York Times. November 22, 1941.
68. "4 Condemned Men Appeal". Gettysburg Times. September 12, 1941. p. 4.
69. "Two Gangsters to Die Today". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 28, 1941. p. 18.
70. "Slayer Goes to Chair Today in New Jersey". Schenectady Gazette. December 2, 1941. p. 5.
71. "N.C. Wife-Killer Dreams of Angels at Execution". The Afro-American. December 20, 1941. p. 24.
72. "Slayer Goes to Gallows Calmly". The Afro-American. December 27, 1941. p. 11.
73. "Williams Is Executed For 2 Ohio Killings". Youngstown Vindicator. December 20, 1941. p. 5.
74. "Wesley v. State". vLex.
75. "Three Negroes Are Executed". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. December 29, 1941. p. 5.

Preceded by 1940

List of people executed       in the United States in    1941

Succeeded by 1942