List of people executed in the United States in 1943

Last updated

One hundred and thirty-four people, one hundred and thirty-two male and two female, were executed in the United States in 1943, ninety-seven by electrocution, twenty-six by gas chamber, ten by hanging, and one by firing squad. [1]

Contents

List of people executed in the United States in 1943

No.Date of executionNameAge of personGenderEthnicityStateMethodRef.
At executionAt offenseAge difference
1January 1, 1943Daniel Phillips29290MaleBlack North Carolina Gas chamber [2]
2Rosanna Lightner Phillips2525Female
3January 7, 1943Sam PorterUnknownUnknownUnknownMale Mississippi Electrocution [1]
4January 8, 1943Grady B. Cole28271 Arizona Gas chamber [3]
5J.C. Levice2221
6Charles Sanders2019
7January 14, 1943Edmund Sileo28262White New York Electrocution [4]
8Joseph Sonsky33249
9January 15, 1943 Jarvis Theodore Roosevelt Catoe 38362Black District of Columbia [5]
10Raymond Dowdell31265 Georgia [6]
11McCoy Combs21192White Kentucky [7]
12Burnett Sexton17161
13James Gilliam40UnknownUnknownBlack Maryland Hanging [8]
14 Sue Belle Logue 46451FemaleWhite South Carolina Electrocution [9]
15 George Reed Logue 5453Male
16 Clarence King Bagwell 3433
17January 18, 1943Forrest Saylor35350Black Florida [10]
18January 21, 1943Frank Castellano26251WhiteNew York [11]
19Angelo Mendez30219Hispanic
20January 22, 1943Leslie Bela Gireth39381White California Gas chamber [12]
21January 29, 1943Sam Hairston2221BlackNorth Carolina [13]
22January 30, 1943Hugh Pierre34286 Louisiana Electrocution [14]
23February 4, 1943Richard Smith24204Georgia [1]
24February 5, 1943Robert Walter Avery34322White Utah Firing squad [15]
25February 12, 1943Luther Lee Cooper2321 Mississippi Electrocution [16]
26February 19, 1943Haywood Bossie24240Black Alabama [17]
27James Corbett Rawlins4646WhiteArizonaGas chamber [18]
28Palmer Ray Meares3434North Carolina [19]
29Leo Lera33294 Texas Electrocution [20]
30February 23, 1943Peter Gurski25250 Connecticut [21]
31February 26, 1943 Robert H. Anderson 37361Kentucky [22]
32 Raymond S. Baxter 29272
33 Thomas Penney 33321
34Ernest Trent26242
35William E. Wallace55541 Oregon Gas chamber [23]
36March 1, 1943Vincent J. Christy3837FloridaElectrocution [24]
37March 4, 1943Harold J. Elling21192New York [25]
38March 12, 1943Charles Clinton Coates Jr.29290Georgia [26]
39James Ford32311BlackMarylandHanging [27]
40March 19, 1943Adolph Thomas35UnknownUnknown Arkansas Electrocution [1]
41James Branch Mooring Jr.22220 Virginia [28]
42Chester Montgomery29263 Washington Hanging [29]
43March 23, 1943 Harold Finnon Burks 2623WhiteLouisianaElectrocution [1]
44March 26, 1943Lewis Wilcoxon20UnknownUnknownBlackGeorgia
45March 29, 1943John Childers33321 Pennsylvania [30]
46March 30, 1943William Lonas Hedden44422White Tennessee [31]
47Robert George Cannon26251Black
48March 31, 1943William Patrick Jennings2322 Ohio [32]
49April 2, 1943Jesse Jones2019South Carolina [33]
50April 6, 1943Manuel Griffin33UnknownUnknownLouisiana [1]
51Roy Willard Jacobs41338WhiteWashingtonHanging [34]
52April 16, 1943John Henry Lee19UnknownUnknownBlackNorth CarolinaGas chamber [1]
53Finley Porter40UnknownUnknown Oklahoma Electrocution [35]
54April 20, 1943Wilson H. Funderburk38UnknownUnknownConnecticut [36]
55April 26, 1943Henry Lock43421Ohio [1]
56Herbert Green41392Pennsylvania [37]
57April 27, 1943Elisandro Lopez Macias2018HispanicArizonaGas chamber [38]
58April 29, 1943John Cullen45441WhiteNew YorkElectrocution [39]
59Eli Edward Shonbrun3332
60May 14, 1943Warren S. Cramer2524CaliforniaGas chamber [40]
61May 21, 1943Lewis Moody26UnknownUnknownBlackNorth Carolina [1]
62May 28, 1943Bernice Franklin17170GeorgiaElectrocution
63Joel Luther Palmer3030White [41]
64June 4, 1943Frank Johnson24213BlackAlabama [1]
65Freeman Holton22202MarylandHanging [42]
66Frank Williams2523
67Wilbur Jackson2220
68Bill Bryant39381WhiteNorth CarolinaGas chamber [43]
69Harvey Hunt2120Native American
70Purcell Smith2221
71June 10, 1943Mose Sims2322BlackGeorgiaElectrocution [1]
72June 18, 1943James Utley2423North CarolinaGas chamber
73June 25, 1943William Carson Gray1716KentuckyElectrocution
74Archie Simpson2019
75Robert Hayward Gray3534 Massachusetts [44]
76Donald Millard19172White
77Joseph E. Sheppard2523
78O'Neal Williams18180BlackMississippi [1]
79June 30, 1943Anthony Treat58571WhiteOhio [45]
80July 6, 1943Herman CarterUnknownUnknown0BlackLouisiana [46]
81George WashingtonUnknownUnknown1
82July 8, 1943Benitez DeJesus19181HispanicNew York [47]
83Edward Haight1716White
84William Diaz1817Hispanic
85July 14, 1943Hiram Prather35332WhiteOklahoma [48]
86July 15, 1943Alfred Haynes26251BlackNew York [49]
87James Felix Tucker31292WhiteTennessee [50]
88Marshall Spigner45441
89July 16, 1943Sylvester McKinney2120BlackSouth Carolina [51]
90Johnnie Sims1716
91July 19, 1943Edmund Reed2625Georgia [52]
92July 21, 1943Arthur Lee Wilson2423Texas [1]
93July 26, 1943Levi Brandon2322 U.S. military Hanging [53]
94August 6, 1943Leroy Goldsmith38UnknownUnknownAlabamaElectrocution [54]
95Harry Thompson44431Arkansas [1]
96August 10, 1943Adel Johnson2120Georgia
97August 13, 1943Henry Daniels Jr.19172Alabama [55]
98Curtis Robinson2018
99John Lawrence Coleman5048WhiteCaliforniaGas chamber [56]
100John Lampkin19UnknownUnknownBlackMarylandHanging [1]
101August 14, 1943 James Clyde Arwood 41401White Federal government Electrocution [57]
102August 20, 1943Marlin Hancock4342Georgia [58]
103Eugene Pittman2827Black
104John Thomas Russell2726
105Charlie Sexton16UnknownUnknown
106August 31, 1943John Richard60UnknownUnknownLouisiana [1]
107September 3, 1943Rex Beard Jr.20191WhiteTexas [59]
108September 10, 1943 Phillip J. Coleman Jr. 24240Black Montana Hanging [60]
109September 15, 1943Ervin Griffin19181OhioElectrocution [1]
110September 16, 1943Anibal Almodovar2120HispanicNew York [61]
111September 20, 1943John Sullivan54522White Colorado Gas chamber [62]
112September 24, 1943Serina Hodo23230BlackGeorgiaElectrocution [1]
113October 1, 1943Joseph C. Williams22UnknownUnknownMississippi
114October 4, 1943Cornelius Earnest Parker24240Florida [63]
115Edward James Ralph3232WhiteOhio [64]
116October 8, 1943George Masayoshi Honda38362AsianColoradoGas chamber [65]
117William Henry Poole30291BlackNorth Carolina [1]
118October 15, 1943Harry Edward Farris28262WhiteVirginiaElectrocution [66]
119October 22, 1943Tommie Lee Mathis23221BlackGeorgia [67]
120October 23, 1943Robert Williams20UnknownUnknown [68]
121October 25, 1943Ruffie Lundon44UnknownUnknownFlorida [69]
122James Allen Young32311
123October 29, 1943George Washington James5453
124Willie Smith4746North CarolinaGas chamber [1]
125Delores Quiroz31UnknownUnknownHispanicTexasElectrocution
126November 19, 1943Sammie Osborne20182BlackSouth Carolina [70]
127November 22, 1943James Perry Acree3230WhiteFlorida [71]
128November 26, 1943Ernest Emory Wishon35341 Illinois [72]
129John Willie Redfern40UnknownUnknownBlackNorth CarolinaGas chamber [73]
130November 27, 1943Floyd L. McKinney34331White Nevada [74]
131December 10, 1943Clyde Morris Grass3231North Carolina [1]
132December 11, 1943S.A. Ellison17170BlackGeorgiaElectrocution
133December 15, 1943Robert Hall50491Tennessee
134December 31, 1943H.T. Johnson2221Georgia

Demographics

Gender
Male132
Female2
Ethnicity
Black77
White49
Hispanic6
Native American2
Asian1
State
Georgia 18
North Carolina 14
New York 12
Kentucky 8
Florida 7
South Carolina 7
Louisiana 6
Maryland 6
Alabama 5
Arizona 5
Ohio 5
Tennessee 5
Mississippi 4
Texas 4
California 3
Massachusetts 3
Arkansas 2
Colorado 2
Connecticut 2
Oklahoma 2
Pennsylvania 2
Virginia 2
Washington 2
District of Columbia 1
Federal government 1
Illinois 1
Montana 1
Nevada 1
Oregon 1
U.S. military 1
Utah 1
Method
Electrocution 97
Gas chamber 26
Hanging 10
Firing squad 1
Month
January22
February13
March13
April11
May4
June16
July14
August13
September6
October13
November5
December4
Age
Unknown3
10–1915
20–2957
30–3935
40–4916
50–597
60–691
Total134100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1944 120
1943134
1942 147
Total401

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  2. "N.C. Couple Executed for Ax Slaying". Baltimore Afro-American. January 12, 1943. p. 2.
  3. "Three Negroes Die For Killing Cabby". The Evening Independent. January 8, 1943. p. 1.
  4. "SILEO, SONSKY GO TO CHAIR; Bookmaker Is First Killer to Die Under 2 Separate Convictions". The New York Times. January 15, 1943.
  5. "Confessed Negro Killer Executed At Washington". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 16, 1943. p. 5.
  6. "Dowdell v. State". CaseMine.
  7. "Dowdell v. State". CaseMine.
  8. "Slayer Dies on Gallows" (PDF). The Afro American. January 16, 1943. p. 20.
  9. "Carolina Feud Ended By State". The Tuscaloosa News. January 15, 1943. p. 2.
  10. "Negro Scheduled To Die in Chair". The Evening Independent. January 14, 1943. p. 2.
  11. "POLICEMEN'S KILLERS DIE; Castellano and Mendez Go to the Chair at Sing Sing". The New York Times. January 22, 1943.
  12. "Californian Dies For Love Slaying". The Evening Independent. January 22, 1943. p. 1.
  13. "State v. Hairston". CourtListener.
  14. "Executed After 6-Year Fight". Youngstown Vindicator. January 31, 1943. p. 4.
  15. "Utah Executes Killer Bandit". Lewiston Morning Tribune. February 6, 1943. p. 2.
  16. "Cooper v. State". CaseMine. January 31, 1943. p. 4.
  17. "Bossie Seeks Clemecy Decree From Governor". The Tuscaloosa News. January 29, 1943. p. 2.
  18. "Slayer of Arizona Child Executed". The Evening Independent. February 19, 1943. p. 1.
  19. "Meares Services Are Held Sunday". The Robesonian via newspapers.com. February 22, 1943. p. 1.
  20. "Leo Lera, With Prayer on Lips, Is Electrocuted". Coriscana Daily Sun via newspapers.com. February 19, 1943. p. 9.
  21. "Gurski Executed At Wethersfield". Meriden Record. February 24, 1943. p. 11.
  22. "Kentucky Executes Slayers Of Golf Star Marion Miley". Toledo Blade. February 26, 1943. p. 3.
  23. "Killer to Die In Gas Chamber". The Bulletin. February 22, 1943. p. 2.
  24. "Slayer of Four Dies in Chair". Ludington Daily News. March 2, 1943. p. 4.
  25. "Harold Elling execution notice". The New York Times. March 5, 1943.
  26. "Slayer of Georgia Cop Is Executed". The Evening Independent. March 12, 1943. p. 1.
  27. "Appeal Lost; Attack Suspect Must Die". Baltimore Afro-American. January 19, 1943. p. 1.
  28. "Governor Refuses Stay of Execution". The Free-Lance Star. March 18, 1943. p. 1.
  29. "Slayer Dies on Gallows". The Pittsburgh Press. March 19, 1943. p. 10.
  30. "Commutation Sought". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 18, 1943. p. 5.
  31. "Two Convicted In Slayings Die in Chair". Kingsport News via newspapers.com. March 31, 1943. p. 3.
  32. "Jennings Dies In Ohio Chair". Youngstown Vindicator. April 1, 1943. p. 8.
  33. "Jesse Jones is Electrocuted for Hughes' Slaying". Herald-Journal. April 3, 1943. p. 2.
  34. "Walla Walla Prison Hangs Roy Jacobs". Lewiston Morning Tribune. April 6, 1943. p. 2.
  35. "Convict Executed For Killing Cellmate". Reading Eagle. April 16, 1943. p. 51.
  36. "Slayer Executed". Hartford Courant via newspapers.com. April 21, 1943. p. 4.
  37. "Negro Murderer Dies In Chair". Gettysburg Times. April 26, 1943. p. 3.
  38. "Arizona Murderer Dies in Gas Cell". Berkeley Daily Gazette. April 27, 1943. p. 2.
  39. "SHONBRUN, CULLEN ARE SENT TO CHAIR; Killers of Refugee Woman in a $2,000 Jewel Theft Pay the Death Penalty in Sing Sing". The New York Times. April 30, 1943.
  40. "Young Killer Dies In Lethal Chamber". Prescott Evening Courier. May 14, 1943. p. 2.
  41. "Palmer v. State". vLex.
  42. "The Monumental City". Baltimore Afro-American. June 8, 1943. p. 8.
  43. "Scheduled To Die Friday". The Robesonian. June 3, 1943. p. 1.
  44. "Trio Executed Early Today in Charlestown". The Lewiston Daily Sun. June 25, 1943. p. 1.
  45. "Child Slayer 'Says Blessing' Then Goes to Death in Chair". Toledo Blade. July 1, 1943. p. 3.
  46. "Two Convicted Negro Murderers to Die at Lake Providence, La". Clarion-Ledger via newspapers.com. June 18, 1943. p. 9.
  47. "Haight, 17, Youngest to Die in the Chair; 2 Other Lads, 18 and 19, Also Pay Penalty". The New York Times. July 9, 1943.
  48. "Oklahoma Takes Life Of Warden's Slayer". The Southeast Missourian. July 15, 1943. p. 2.
  49. "Dewey Hears Plea to Save Young Killer". Schenectady Gazette. July 1, 1943. p. 6.
  50. "Spigner Describes Slaying Before Going to His Death". The Commercial Appeal via newspapers.com. July 16, 1943. p. 13.
  51. "Spigner Describes Slaying Before Going to His Death". Herald-Journal. May 7, 1943. p. 1.
  52. "Ga. Sgt. Electrocuted for Killing Policeman". The Afro American. July 24, 1943. p. 7.
  53. "Negro Soldier Put to Death". St. Joseph Gazette. July 27, 1943. p. 5.
  54. "Negro Electrocuted". The Tuscaloosa News. August 9, 1943. p. 1.
  55. "Doomed Pair Fail in High Court Plea". Baltimore Afro-American. June 1, 1943. p. 5.
  56. "People v. Coleman". Stanford Law School.
  57. "Arwood Calm, Refuses To Talk As He Goes to Chair Unmoved". The Tennessean via newspapers.com. August 15, 1943. p. 11.
  58. "Electrocute Three Men in Georgia". Sun Herald via newspapers.com. August 21, 1943. p. 4.
  59. "Beard Gets Stay". The Victoria Advocate. June 17, 1943. p. 1.
  60. "Coleman Dies on Gallows Today In County Jail". The Daily Missoulian via newspapers.com. September 10, 1943. p. 1.
  61. "Wife Killer Dies in Chair". Newsday via newspapers.com. September 17, 1943. p. 2.
  62. "Colorado Killer Executed". The Deseret News. September 20, 1943. p. 1.
  63. "Pal of Slayer Found Guilty In Long Slaying". The Tampa Times via newspapers.com. March 25, 1943. p. 9.
  64. "Slayer of Child Dies in Ohio Chair". Toledo Blade. October 5, 1943. p. 8.
  65. "Jap-American Hopes We Will Win, Then Dies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. October 10, 1943. p. 10.
  66. "Farris Executed By State Today". The Free-Lance Star. October 15, 1943. p. 1.
  67. "Mathis v. State". vLex.
  68. "Williams v. State". vLex.
  69. "Two Negroes Executed At Raiford Prison". St. Petersburg Times. October 26, 1943. p. 16.
  70. "Barnwell Negro Goes to Chair in Farmer's Slaying". Herald-Journal. November 20, 1943. p. 2.
  71. "Perry Acree Dies For Murder Of Tampa Salesman". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 22, 1943. p. 1.
  72. "Quotes 23rd Psalm Then Goes to Death". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 26, 1943. p. 6.
  73. "Mechanism For Executing Negro Murderer Jams". Lewiston Morning Tribune. November 27, 1943. p. 3.
  74. "Slayer Put to Death". The Pittsburgh Press. November 28, 1943. p. 20.
Preceded by
1942
   List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
1943
Succeeded by
1944