List of people executed in the United States in 1952

Eighty-one people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1952, sixty-six by electrocution, thirteen by gas chamber, and two by hanging. ^[1]

List of people executed in the United States in 1952

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 5, 1952	James Bernard Lammers	27	26	1	Male	White	Kansas	Hanging	[2]
2	January 8, 1952	Richard Sterling McMurrin	21	19	2		Black	Texas	Electrocution	[3]
3	January 18, 1952	James Isaac Robinson	33	30	3		White	Kentucky		[1]
4		Lon Stevenson	19	18	1		Black	Ohio		[4]
5	January 25, 1952	Raymond Jenko		17	2		White	Illinois		[5]
6		Smith Harvey	41	40	1		Black	South Carolina		[6]
7	February 1, 1952	Earl David Birchem	49	46	3		White	Kentucky		[7]
8	February 15, 1952	Frederick Swanson Pritchett	40	37				District of Columbia		[8]
9		Frank James Cox	41	40	1			South Carolina		[1]
10	February 21, 1952	Henry Johnson Brock	38	35	3			Georgia		[9]
11	February 25, 1952	Edward J. Bryant	28	25			Black	Pennsylvania		[10]
12		Joseph Daniel Chambers
13	February 29, 1952	William Jerome Phyle	35	29	6		White	California	Gas chamber	[11]
14		George Tiller	43	41	2		Black	Ohio	Electrocution	[1]
15	March 1, 1952	Homer Almond	48	Unknown	Unknown			Georgia
16	March 6, 1952	Bernard Stein	35	29	6		White	New York		[12]
17	March 7, 1952	Doil Miller	31	28	3		Black	California	Gas chamber	[13]
18	March 12, 1952	Robert Lee Johnson	34	33	1		White	Texas	Electrocution	[14]
19	March 14, 1952	Clifton Williams	30	29			Black	Georgia		[15]
20		Harry Williams	21	20				Illinois		[16]
21	March 21, 1952	William Thomas Coefield	24	21	3		White	California	Gas chamber	[17]
22	April 4, 1952	Pat Reece	33	31	2			Georgia	Electrocution	[18]
23		Jessie Lee Quarles	27	25			Black	Kentucky		[19]
24		Charlie Holmes	38	35	3			Mississippi		[20]
25	April 7, 1952	Coy McCann	48	46	2			Florida		[1]
26	April 9, 1952	Marvin Eugene Johnson	21	20	1		White	Texas		[21]
27	April 17, 1952	Eli Griffin	42	41			Black	Georgia		[22]
28	April 18, 1952	William Perry Blasingame Jr.	32	31			White	South Carolina		[23]
29		J.P. Priester	20	19			Black			[24]
30		John Priester	24	23
31	April 21, 1952	Saul James	28	Unknown	Unknown			Florida		[1]
32	April 25, 1952	Lloyd Edison Sampsell	52	47	5		White	California	Gas chamber	[25]
33		Arthur Darden	22	21	1		Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
34	April 26, 1952	William Kary Jones	58	57			White	Texas		[26]
35	April 30, 1952	Roland Dean Sundahl	21	20				Nebraska		[27]
36		Henry Savage	26	23	3		Black	Texas		[28]
37	May 2, 1952	Cooper Drake	31	29	2			Alabama		[29]
38		Andrew Smith		30	1					[1]
39	May 9, 1952	Levert Forrest	27	Unknown	Unknown
40		Stanley Buckowski	26	24	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[30]
41		James Cewrell Edwards	31	29			Black	Ohio	Electrocution	[1]
42	May 13, 1952	Frederick Bunk	28	24	4		White	New Jersey		[31]
43		Robert K. Jellison	25	21
44		Clarence Smith	41	37
45	June 4, 1952	Herman Lee Ross	32	28			Black	Texas		[32]
46	June 6, 1952	Herman Maxwell	22	19	3			Arkansas		[33]
47		Napoleon Wise	21	20	1			Georgia		[1]
48		John Andrew Roman	28	27				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[34]
49	June 13, 1952	Roland Wyatt						South Carolina	Electrocution	[35]
50	June 20, 1952	Aurelio Martinez	38	37			Hispanic	California	Gas chamber	[36]
51	June 30, 1952	Merlin James Leiby	25	22	3		White	Florida	Electrocution	[37]
52	July 10, 1952	Thomas Andrew Haley	27	26	1			Texas		[38]
53	July 11, 1952	John Henry Thornton	24	23			Black	Georgia		[1]
54		Paul Washington	26	22	4			Louisiana		[39]
55		Ocie Jugger	27	23
56		Chester Blane Gregg	58	57	1		White	Ohio		[40]
57	July 25, 1952	Fred M. Stroble	70	68	2			California	Gas chamber	[41]
58		William Andrew Tyler Jr.	20	18			Black	District of Columbia	Electrocution	[42]
59		James Blackston Jr.	29	28	1			Georgia		[1]
60		James Brent Durr	24	23				Mississippi
61	August 1, 1952	Wilson Wright	19	19	0			Arkansas		[43]
62	August 4, 1952	Edward James Beckwith	31	27	4		White	Iowa	Hanging	[44]
63	August 8, 1952	Wayne LeRoy Long	26	24	2			Oregon	Gas chamber	[45]
64		Major Preston	34	32			Black	Texas	Electrocution	[46]
65	August 25, 1952	Albert Jackson Jr.	24	23	1	Virginia		[47]
66	August 26, 1952	Irving Donald Peterson	33	32		New Jersey		[48]
67	September 8, 1952	George Willis Story	52	49	3	White	Florida	[49]
68	September 26, 1952	Walter Bentley	30	Unknown	Unknown	Black	Louisiana	[50]
69	October 7, 1952	Horace Johnson	29	Unknown	Unknown		Georgia	[51]
70	October 10, 1952	Desmond Miles	35	34	1	White	Alabama	[52]
71	October 17, 1952	Bernice Davis	23	21	2	Black	Illinois	[53]
72		LeRoy Lindsay	31	29				[54]
73	October 28, 1952	Willie Porter	29		0		Missouri	Gas chamber	[55]
74		Booker T. Reed	46	45	1		Texas	Electrocution	[56]
75	October 30, 1952	Wallace Ford Jr.	31	30			New York		[57]
76		Edward Henry Kelly	53	50	3	White			[58]
77	October 31, 1952	Bernard Austin Gilliam	38	37	1		California	Gas chamber	[59]
78	November 13, 1952	Domingo Echeverria	60	59		Hispanic	Nevada		[60]
79	November 21, 1952	Henry Savage	35	Unknown	Unknown	Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[61]
80	December 2, 1952	Alton Paris	59	59	0		Texas		[62]
81	December 12, 1952	William Edward Cook Jr.	23	22	1	White	California	Gas chamber	[63]

Demographics

Gender
Male	81	100%
Female	0	0%
Ethnicity
Black	47	58%
White	32	40%
Hispanic	2	2%
State
Georgia	11	14%
Texas	10	12%
California	9	11%
South Carolina	6	7%
Alabama	4	5%
Florida	4	5%
Illinois	4	5%
New Jersey	4	5%
Ohio	4	5%
Kentucky	3	4%
Louisiana	3	4%
New York	3	4%
Arkansas	2	2%
District of Columbia	2	2%
Mississippi	2	2%
Pennsylvania	2	2%
Iowa	1	1%
Kansas	1	1%
Missouri	1	1%
Nebraska	1	1%
Nevada	1	1%
North Carolina	1	1%
Oregon	1	1%
Virginia	1	1%
Method
Electrocution	66	81%
Gas chamber	13	16%
Hanging	2	2%
Month
January	6	7%
February	8	10%
March	7	9%
April	15	19%
May	8	10%
June	7	9%
July	9	11%
August	6	7%
September	2	2%
October	9	11%
November	2	2%
December	2	2%
Age
10–19	3	4%
20–29	36	44%
30–39	24	30%
40–49	10	12%
50–59	6	7%
60–69	1	1%
70–79	1	1%
Total	81	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1953	63
1952	81
1951	101
Total	245

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 28, 2025.
2. "Dies On Gallows At Kansas Prison". York News-Times via newspapers.com. January 5, 1952. p. 1.
3. "Galveston Man Must Die for Rape". The Victoria Advocate. November 25, 1951. p. 12.
4. "Lon Stevenson, Prayer On Lips, Dies In Chair". The Portsmouth Times. January 19, 1952. p. 3.
5. "People v. Jenko". Justia Law.
6. "Who Insulted Him, Vet Dies In Chair". The Afro American. February 2, 1952. p. 2.
7. "Bircham v. Commonwealth". CaseMine.
8. "Pritchett v. United States". Justia Law.
9. "Brock v. State". vLex.
10. "Commonwealth v. Bryant". Justia Law.
11. "William Phyle Is Finally Executed". Santa Cruz Sentinel via newspapers.com. February 29, 1952. p. 1.
12. "Hold-Up Slayer Dies in Chair". The New York Times. March 7, 1952.
13. "People v. Miller". Stanford Law School.
14. "Cop Slayer Asks Mercy At Execution". The Victoria Advocate. March 12, 1952. p. 2.
15. "Williams v. State". Justia Law.
16. "Young Chicago Killer Is Executed Today". Decatur Daily Democrat. March 14, 1952. p. 8.
17. "People v. Coefield". Justia Law.
18. "Execution Stay Granted Reece". Rome News-Tribune. March 7, 1952. p. 2.
19. "Quarles v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
20. "Holmes v. State". Justia Law.
21. "Young Musician Put to Death". St. Joseph Gazette. April 10, 1952. p. 10.
22. "Governor Denies Slayer Clemency". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 17, 1952. p. 9.
23. "State v. Blassingame". Justia Law.
24. "Three Die in Chair in South Carolina". Spokane Daily Chronicle. April 18, 1952. p. 7.
25. "People v. Sampsell". Justia Law.
26. "30-Day Stay of Execution Given". The Bonham Daily Favorite. March 27, 1952. p. 5.
27. "Sundahl v. State". Justia Law.
28. "Texas Rapist To Die Tonight". The Victoria Advocate. April 30, 1952. p. 1.
29. "Drake v. State". Justia Law.
30. "People v. Buckowski". vLex.
31. "DEATH FOR 3 IS UPHELD; Jersey Supreme Court Rejects Plea for a New Trial". The New York Times. April 25, 1950.
32. "Trial one of longest in county history". The Galveston Daily News via newspapers.com. January 26, 1990. p. 6.
33. "Court Upholds Sentences For Red Attorneys". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 22, 1952. p. 12.
34. "State V. Roman". The Dispatch. October 17, 1952. p. 3.
35. "Negro Rapist Dies in Chair". Herald-Journal. June 14, 1952. p. 1.
36. "People v. Martinez". Justia Law.
37. "Leiby v. State". Justia Law.
38. "Thomas Haley Pays Penalty". The Courier-Gazette via newspapers.com. July 10, 1952. p. 1.
39. "LOUISIANA EXECUTES PAUL WASHINGTON, INNOCENT NEGRO FRAME-UP VICTIM". The Colorado Statesman. July 26, 1952. p. 1.
40. "'Lonely Hearts' Slayer Meets Death Calmly". The Portsmouth Times. July 12, 1952. p. 3.
41. "People v. Stroble". vLex.
42. "Tyler v. United States". Justia Law.
43. "Execution For Murder Decreed At Fordyce". Northwest Arkansas Times via newspapers.com. July 12, 1952. p. 3.
44. "State v. Beckwith". Justia Law.
45. "State of Oregon v. Long". Justia Law.
46. "Execution Stay Is Granted Negro". The Bonham Daily Favorite. June 5, 1952. p. 3.
47. "Jackson v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
48. "State v. Peterson". Justia Law.
49. "Warren Cancels Death Warrant". St. Petersburg Times. March 22, 1952. p. 7.
50. "State v. Bentley". Justia Law.
51. "Johnson v. State". vLex.
52. "Miles v. State". vLex.
53. "People v. Davis". Justia Law.
54. "The People v. Lindsay". CaseMine.
55. "Convict Awaits Gas Chamber With Little Emotion". The Maryville Daily Forum via newspapers.com. October 27, 1952. p. 9.
56. "Hearing Denied Axe Murderer". The Victoria Advocate. October 20, 1952. p. 1.
57. "People v. Ford". vLex.
58. "Killer Prefers Electric Chair". The Spokesman-Review. October 22, 1952. p. 26.
59. "People v. Gilliam". Stanford Law School.
60. "People v. Gilliam". Justia Law.
61. "Savage v. State". Justia Law.
62. "Paris v. State". Justia Law.
63. "People v. Cook". Justia Law.

Preceded by 1951

List of people executed       in the United States in    1952

Succeeded by 1953