List of people executed in the United States in 1944

Last updated

One hundred and twenty people, one hundred and seventeen male and three female, were executed in the United States in 1944, eighty-four by electrocution, twenty-four by gas chamber, eleven by hanging, and one by firing squad. [1]

Contents

The U.S. territory of Hawaii would conduct its final execution this year before abolishing the death penalty in 1957; it was not a state until 1959. [2]

Finally, four notable executions were those of Emmanuel Weiss, Louis Buchalter, and Louis Capone (no relation to Al Capone). [3] George Stinney, meanwhile, was controversially executed by South Carolina and exonerated 70 years later. [4]

List of people executed in the United States in 1944

No.Date of executionNameAge of personGenderEthnicityStateMethodRef.
At executionAt offenseAge difference
1January 5, 1944Willie Hubbard28UnknownUnknownMaleBlack Georgia Electrocution [1]
2January 6, 1944Joseph Charles Mascari32311White New York [5]
3January 7, 1944Isaac Irwin31292Georgia [1]
4 Adriano Domingo 33321Asian Hawaii Territory Hanging [6]
5January 8, 1944Lionel James Allen2827Black Louisiana Electrocution [7]
6January 13, 1944Herbert Lewis35UnknownUnknownNew York [1]
7January 14, 1944Louis Vernon Hand17170White Ohio [8]
8January 21, 1944Marcelino Bautista3131Asian California Gas chamber [9]
9Louis Valle43421WhiteNew YorkElectrocution [10]
10January 28, 1944Farrington Graham Hill3130CaliforniaGas chamber [11]
11Alex Harris4847 North Carolina [12]
12February 3, 1944Willie Hicks18UnknownUnknownBlackGeorgiaElectrocution [1]
13February 4, 1944Claude Newman20191 Mississippi [13]
14February 9, 1944Elijah Parker23212 [14]
15February 10, 1944John Regan3432WhiteNew York [15]
16February 15, 1944Glenard Brown19181CaliforniaGas chamber [16]
17John Swan26242Black New Jersey Electrocution [17]
18February 18, 1944Andrew Wilson Farrell251WhiteNorth CarolinaGas chamber [18]
19February 25, 1944William Charles Holsey3332Black Maryland Hanging [19]
20Waymon Grainger31292North CarolinaGas chamber [20]
21February 29, 1944Howard E. Jefferson30273New JerseyElectrocution [1]
22March 2, 1944Joseph Palmer28262WhiteNew York [21]
23Vincent Sallami2624
24March 3, 1944James Raymond Woodall36360 Virginia [22]
25March 4, 1944Parker Lloyd Adams27UnknownUnknownBlackLouisiana [1]
26 Louis Capone 47407WhiteNew York [23]
27 Emanuel Weiss 3730
28 Louis Buchalter 47398
29March 6, 1944Anthony Wilson30282BlackLouisiana [24]
30Harvey Cunningham3937 Oregon Gas chamber [25]
31March 7, 1944Marvin Lewis Lee22UnknownUnknownGeorgiaElectrocution [1]
32March 10, 1944Ernest L. Hoefgen32311White Kansas Hanging [26]
33 Willie Johnson 3736BlackOhioElectrocution [27]
34March 15, 1944Paul Leroy Williams25232White Illinois [28]
35March 17, 1944Rock Hooten24UnknownUnknownBlackGeorgia [1]
36March 20, 1944Michael Musto45441White Pennsylvania [29]
37March 24, 1944Lewis Mitchell28UnknownUnknownBlack Alabama [30]
38James Sidney Newsom Jr.17161Mississippi [31]
39March 31, 1944Martin Smith20UnknownUnknownMarylandHanging [1]
40April 7, 1944Herbert Rozier72711GeorgiaElectrocution [32]
41April 15, 1944Fred L. Brady4746WhiteKansasHanging [33]
42Clark B. Knox2625Black
43April 16, 1944Bruce Elton Jordan2524White Texas Electrocution [1]
44April 28, 1944Oscar Reed2625BlackGeorgia
45Robert Walker233
46James CrosbyUnknownUnknownUnknownMississippi
47May 2, 1944Juan Gutierrez40UnknownUnknownHispanicTexas
48May 3, 1944Carlo James DeCaro Jr.19190White Connecticut [34]
49May 5, 1944Lawrence Pascal Phillips Sr.44422Mississippi [35]
50May 12, 1944Daniel Kolez5351CaliforniaGas chamber [36]
51Sammy Joe Timmons20UnknownUnknownBlack South Carolina Electrocution [37]
52May 19, 1944James Samuel HughesUnknownUnknown1WhiteMississippi [1]
53Mildred Louise Johnson2322FemaleBlack [38]
54May 25, 1944Grady Ellison36342MaleGeorgia [1]
55John Ranford41401New York [39]
56May 26, 1944Howard Robinson Walker27UnknownUnknownVirginia [40]
57June 2, 1944Seke Mack40UnknownUnknown Arkansas [1]
58June 3, 1944Louis Parisi24222WhiteNew York
59June 16, 1944William Shaw35341BlackCaliforniaGas chamber [41]
60John Hinton25250MarylandHanging [42]
61Allen Lambus72711 Missouri Gas chamber [43]
62 George Junius Stinney Jr. 14140South CarolinaElectrocution [44]
63George Bruce Hamilton21UnknownUnknown
64Thomas William Clatterbuck34331WhiteVirginia [45]
65June 19, 1944Austin Cox Jr.38380 Utah Firing squad [46]
66June 23, 1944Gordon Cooke21192BlackNew YorkElectrocution [47]
67Winston A. Sealy2220
68June 26, 1944Edgar Flowers2119 Florida [1]
69June 29, 1944Alex Bellomo2523WhiteNew York [48]
70Peter DeLutro2321
71Frank DiMaria
72June 30, 1944Raymond Plunkett30291 Nevada Gas chamber [49]
73July 7, 1944Walker Hudson53UnknownUnknownBlackArkansasElectrocution [1]
74July 9, 1944Bennie Johnson41401Texas [50]
75David Williams19172
76July 14, 1944James Tacker61UnknownUnknownWhiteArkansas [1]
77July 28, 1944William B. Stroup39381Georgia [51]
78July 30, 1944Clay Whittle3736Texas [52]
79August 10, 1944Eddie Dillon3534BlackMississippi [1]
80August 18, 1944Florencio Alcalde31292HispanicCaliforniaGas chamber [53]
81August 19, 1944Edward Thompson2523WhiteFloridaElectrocution [54]
82Earl Thompson3331
83August 27, 1944George Johnson30UnknownUnknownBlackTexas [1]
84Willie Johnson38362
85August 31, 1944York Hing Lew19181AsianNew York [55]
86Tieh Li Yun2423
87September 8, 1944Persia Williams38380Black Washington Hanging [56]
88September 15, 1944Alvin Krause29281WhiteIllinoisElectrocution [57]
89September 25, 1944George Nelson Gatling37370BlackPennsylvania [1]
90September 29, 1944Floyd Burton Loveless17152WhiteNevadaGas chamber [58]
91October 9, 1944James Davis16160BlackFloridaElectrocution [59]
92Freddie Lee Lane2020
93James C. Williams2626
94October 19, 1944James Thomas20182MissouriGas chamber [60]
95November 3, 1944Joe Vernon38317AlabamaElectrocution [1]
96Charles Ivan Baa22202CaliforniaGas chamber [61]
97James Taylor48UnknownUnknownNorth Carolina [1]
98Hurley JonesUnknownUnknownUnknownSouth CarolinaElectrocution
99November 16, 1944Helen Fowler37361FemaleNew York [62]
100George Franklin Knight2726Male
101November 17, 1944Calvin William Watkins Jr.24240MarylandHanging [63]
102Charles AlexanderUnknownUnknownNorth CarolinaGas chamber [1]
103Cleveland Brown Jr.27261 Wyoming [64]
104November 24, 1944George Walter Brooks20200North Carolina [65]
105James W. Buchanan1919 [66]
106November 27, 1944Thomas Hays Elliott25232PennsylvaniaElectrocution [67]
107December 1, 1944Levi Clingham41410Arkansas [1]
108John William Kehoe50464WhiteMississippi [68]
109December 8, 1944Richard Harry Layton36351OregonGas chamber [69]
110Edward Heberling32320WashingtonHanging [70]
111December 19, 1944Joe Basil Stephens37361TexasElectrocution [71]
112December 22, 1944Henry Lee Wiley2322BlackMississippi [72]
113December 28, 1944Tom Mix45432Florida [73]
114December 29, 1944Stanley Morris Kaster36351White Iowa Hanging [74]
115Joseph Marion Leemon1918MississippiElectrocution [75]
116Maurice M. Shimniok
117Bessie Mae Williams190FemaleBlackNorth CarolinaGas chamber [76]
118Ralph Thompson1818Male
119Melvin Wade24UnknownUnknown
120December 31, 1944Allen Murray32302TexasElectrocution [1]

Demographics

Gender
Male117
Female3
Ethnicity
Black69
White45
Asian4
Hispanic2
State
New York 20
Mississippi 12
Georgia 10
North Carolina 10
Texas 9
California 7
Florida 7
Arkansas 4
Maryland 4
South Carolina 4
Kansas 3
Louisiana 3
Pennsylvania 3
Virginia 3
Alabama 2
Illinois 2
Missouri 2
Nevada 2
New Jersey 2
Ohio 2
Oregon 2
Washington 2
Connecticut 1
Hawaii Territory 1
Iowa 1
Utah 1
Wyoming 1
Method
Electrocution 84
Gas chamber 24
Hanging 11
Firing squad 1
Month
January11
February10
March18
April7
May10
June16
July6
August8
September4
October4
November12
December14
Age
Unknown3
10–1915
20–2945
30–3937
40–4914
50–593
60–691
70–792
Total120100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1945 129
1944120
1943 133
Total382

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  2. "Hawaii". Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  3. "DEAD MEN WALKING: MURDER INC. TRIO ELECTROCUTED AT SING SING PRISON EIGHTY YEARS AGO". The Mob Museum. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  4. "It took 10 minutes to convict 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. It took 70 years after his execution to exonerate him". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  5. "Murderer Executed". The Daily Times. January 7, 1944. p. 5.
  6. "Domingo Will Hang Today". Honolulu Star-Advertiser via newspapers.com. January 7, 1944. p. 5.
  7. "Sheriff Witness at Negro's Trial in Butler's Death". Weekly Town Talk via newspapers.com. February 6, 1943. p. 7.
  8. "17-Year-Old Slayer Dies in Electric Chair". Youngstown Vindicator. January 15, 1944. p. 1.
  9. "News Flashes". San Jose Evening News. January 21, 1944. p. 5.
  10. "Nassau Slayer Goes to Chair". The New York Times. January 21, 1944.
  11. "Duo Killer is Executed". San Jose Evening News. January 28, 1944. p. 17.
  12. "Gas Chamber To Be Used for Execution". The Mount Airy News. January 28, 1944. p. 1.
  13. "Claude Newman, MS, 1944 February 4". M. E. Grenander Special Collections and Archives.
  14. "Mississippi Negro Dies for Murder". The Evening Independent. February 9, 1944. p. 9.
  15. "Dies in Chair After 4 Reprieves". The New York Times. February 11, 1944.
  16. "19-Year-Old is Executed". San Jose Evening News. February 15, 1944. p. 4.
  17. "Negro Electrocuted For Girl's Murder". Gettysburg Times. February 16, 1944. p. 2.
  18. "State v. Farrell". vLex.
  19. "Meister Killer Is Hanged". The Evening Sun via newspapers.com. February 25, 1944. p. 32.
  20. "Man in 1942 Slaying Executed in Raleigh". Baltimore Afro-American. March 4, 1944. p. 4.
  21. "Die as Scheduled". The Telegraph-Herald. March 3, 1944. p. 1.
  22. "Woodall Says He Remembers Nothing Of Slayings: State To Press For Prompt Trial". The Bee via newspapers.com. September 2, 1943. p. 1.
  23. "'Murder, Inc.' Boss, Lepke, is Dead; Berlin Hit in All-American Raid". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 5, 1944. p. 1.
  24. "Negro Electrocuted for Attack on White Woman". Sun Herald via newspapers.com. March 8, 1944. p. 4.
  25. "Negro is Executed in Oregon Chamber". The Spokesman-Review. March 7, 1944. p. 1.
  26. "Hoefgen is Hanged for Brutal Killing of Young Wichitan". The Wichita Eagle via newspapers.com. March 10, 1944. p. 14.
  27. "Slayer Dies In Chair". Painesville Telegraph. March 11, 1944. p. 1.
  28. "Slayer is Electrocuted". San Jose Evening News. March 15, 1944. p. 7.
  29. "Altoona Man Dies For Killing Wife". The Pittsburgh Press. March 20, 1944. p. 19.
  30. "Death Sentence Affirmed". Times Daily. January 20, 1944. p. 2.
  31. "Alcorn Negro Dies In Electric Chair". Clarion-Ledger via newspapers.com. March 25, 1944. p. 8.
  32. "Rozier v. State". vLex.
  33. "To Gallows With Smile". St. Joseph News-Press. April 15, 1944. p. 6.
  34. "Conn. Murderer Waits Electric Chair". The Telegraph. May 3, 1944. p. 6.
  35. "Slayer of Recluse Is Put to Death". The Evening Independent. May 5, 1944. p. 16.
  36. "Convicted Murderer Executed at Prison". Berkeley Daily Gazette. May 12, 1944. p. 4.
  37. "Negro Executed at S. C. Prison". Herald-Journal. May 13, 1944. p. 2.
  38. "Johnson v. State". vLex.
  39. "SLAYER PUT TO DEATH; Manhasset Hold-Up Man Dies in Sing Sing -- Another Gets Stay". The New York Times. May 26, 1944.
  40. "Howard Walker Dies in Chair". The Afro American. June 10, 1944. p. 6.
  41. "People v. Shaw". Stanford Law School.
  42. "N.C. Man Dies on Maryland Gallows". Baltimore Afro-American. June 17, 1944. p. 7.
  43. "Allen Lambus Pays Penalty". The Southeast Missourian. June 16, 1944. p. 1.
  44. "14 And 21-Year Negroes Executed". The Newberry Observer. June 16, 1944. p. 13.
  45. "Clatterbuck Dies in Electric Chair". The Free-Lance Star. June 16, 1944. p. 2.
  46. "Mass Killer Is Executed". The Windsor Daily Star. June 19, 1944. p. 10.
  47. "2 YOUTHS GO TO CHAIR; Sealy and Cooke Die at Sing Sing as Two Others Get Stays". The New York Times. June 23, 1944.
  48. "Gunmen Executed". The Leader-Post. June 30, 1944. p. 13.
  49. "Slayer of Son Executed". The Spokesman-Review. July 1, 1944. p. 13.
  50. "Double Execution of Texas Negroes". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 10, 1944. p. 9.
  51. "Double Execution of Texas Negroes". St. Petersburg Times. July 29, 1944. p. 2.
  52. "Prison Slayer Is Refused Clemency". The Victoria Advocate. July 30, 1944. p. 5.
  53. "Alcalde's 'Revelation' Is Doubted". San Jose Evening News. August 18, 1944. p. 31.
  54. "Jax Brothers Die In Raiford's Chair". The Evening Independent. August 19, 1944. p. 1.
  55. "TWO CHINESE DIE IN CHAIR; They Pay Penalty for Murder of Girl Here in 1943". The New York Times. September 1, 1944.
  56. "Negro Executed At Walla Walla". Lewiston Morning Tribune. September 8, 1944. p. 4.
  57. "Slayer Spurns Chance To Live, Dies In Chair". The Deseret News. September 15, 1944. p. 2.
  58. "Execute Loveless for 1942 Killing". Spokane Daily Chronicle. September 30, 1944. p. 11.
  59. "Three Executed in Florida for Attack, Shooting". McComb Daily Journal via newspapers.com. October 11, 1944. p. 6.
  60. "Negro Executed In Gas Chamber". The Windsor Daily Star. October 20, 1944. p. 7.
  61. "Charles Baa Pays Supreme Penalty". Oxnard Press-Courier. November 3, 1944. p. 1.
  62. "WOMAN GOES TO CHAIR; She is First of Sex in 8 Years to Pay Death Penalty at Sing Sing". The New York Times. November 17, 1944.
  63. "Calvin Watkins Dies on Gallows". Baltimore Afro-American. November 18, 1944. p. 1.
  64. "State v. Brown". vLex.
  65. "State v. Brooks". CaseMine.
  66. "State v. Buchanan". CaseMine.
  67. "Slayer Executed". Greensburg Daily Tribune. November 27, 1944. p. 14.
  68. "Farmer Dies in Electric Chair for Slaying Salesman". Sun Herald via newspapers.com. December 1, 1944. p. 8.
  69. "Richard Layton Executed For Girl-Slaying". Eugene Register-Guard. December 8, 1944. p. 1.
  70. "Slayer of Child Dies on Scaffold". St. Petersburg Times. December 9, 1944. p. 7.
  71. "Slayer of Deputy Dies In Chair". The Bonham Daily Favorite. December 20, 1944. p. 1.
  72. "Wiley v. State". CaseMine.
  73. "Florida News Briefs". St. Petersburg Times. December 29, 1944. p. 4.
  74. "Draft Objector Is Hanged For Murder". San Jose News. December 29, 1944. p. 43.
  75. "Two Sailors Executed For Slaying Ex-Sheriff". The Pittsburgh Press. December 29, 1944. p. 5.
  76. "Three Negroes Die In State's Gas Chamber". The Herald-Sun via newspapers.com. December 30, 1944. p. 3.
Preceded by
1943
   List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
1944
Succeeded by
1945