List of people executed in the United States in 1954

Eighty-three people, eighty-one male and two female, were executed in the United States in 1954, sixty-seven by electrocution, twelve by gas chamber, and four by hanging. ^[1]

The state of Vermont conducted its final executions this year, before abolishing capital punishment in 1965.

List of people executed in the United States in 1954

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 7, 1954	Walter Griffen	26	25	1	Male	White	New York	Electrocution	[2]
2		Maurice O'Dell	28	27
3	January 15, 1954	Dovie Blanche Dean	55	54		Female		Ohio		[3]
4	January 22, 1954	Will Hardie	54	52	2	Male	Black	Alabama		[4]
5		Paul Wright	19	18	1			Georgia		[5]
6	January 29, 1954	Evan Charles Thomas	30	28	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[6]
7	February 5, 1954	Doyle Franklin Scott	31	30	1			Georgia	Electrocution	[7]
8		Luther Carlyle Wheeler	25	23	2			Mississippi		[8]
9	February 8, 1954	Francis Herbert Blair	32	30				Vermont		[9]
10	February 19, 1954	Henry Ford McCracken	36	34				California	Gas chamber	[10]
11		Arthur Fay Johnson	57	54	3			New Mexico	Electrocution	[11]
12		Walter Collins Green	25	24	1			Texas		[1]
13	March 5, 1954	Joseph Arthur Daugherty	54	52	2			California	Gas chamber	[12]
14		Florentino Ortega	26	25	1		Hispanic			[13]
15		Lander Ray Gantt	31	27	4		White	South Carolina	Electrocution	[14]
16		Shelton H. Gainey	24	19
17	March 11, 1954	Henry Louis Allen	19	17	2		Black	New York		[1]
18		John Martin	29	27
19	March 12, 1954	Otis Glenn	23	22	1			South Carolina		[15]
20	March 15, 1954	Oscar C. McGrew	28	26	2			Pennsylvania		[1]
21	March 25, 1954	Charles D. Clark	43	41			White	Texas
22	March 27, 1954	Tom Ingham	31	Unknown	Unknown		Black	West Virginia
23	March 29, 1954	Clyde Vernon Ensminger	35	34	1		White	Pennsylvania		[16]
24	April 2, 1954	Henry Frank Decaillet	52	51				California	Gas chamber	[17]
25	April 5, 1954	William Patskin	46	43	3			Pennsylvania	Electrocution	[1]
26	April 23, 1954	Arthur Lee Grimes	23	21	2		Black	Alabama
27		Albert Lee Jones
28		Ferdinand A. Bourdlais	27	25			White	Nevada	Gas chamber	[18]
29		Willie Lee Gage	42	40			Black	Texas	Electrocution	[19]
30	May 7, 1954	William C. Jenkins					Native American	Arkansas		[20]
31		Raymond Carney	38	37	1		Black	South Carolina		[21]
32	May 17, 1954	Joseph Bibalo	24	20	4		White	Pennsylvania		[1]
33	May 21, 1954	Nathaniel Germany	29	22	7		Black	Kansas	Hanging	[22]
34	May 25, 1954	Lindsey Heard	20	19	1			Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
35	May 26, 1954	John Clay Kensinger	29	28			White	Virginia		[23]
36	June 3, 1954	Charles Edward Mauck Klinedinst		27	2			Texas		[24]
37	June 4, 1954	Jessie Frank Jackson	23	22	1		Black	Alabama		[25]
38		Thomas William Reed	45	34	11			Kentucky		[26]
39	June 11, 1954	Ozzie Jones	30	28	2			Georgia		[27]
40		George Edward Grammer	36	35	1		White	Maryland	Hanging	[1]
41	June 12, 1954	Betty Evelyn Butler	26	24	2	Female	Black	Ohio	Electrocution	[28]
42	June 15, 1954	Willie Jackson Jr.	17	16	1	Male		Georgia		[29]
43		Herman Lee Miller	18	17
44	June 24, 1954	Jimmy Richardson	32	31				Texas		[30]
45	July 2, 1954	Charles Leo McGarry	66	65			White	California	Gas chamber	[31]
46	July 9, 1954	Russell George Muskus	33	29	4			Ohio	Electroctution	[1]
47	July 14, 1954	Charles Waymon Barnes	24	23	1		Black	Texas
48	July 15, 1954	Leroy Leonard Linden	34	34	0		White	Nevada	Gas chamber	[32]
49		Frank Alfonso Pedrini	46	46
50		Emile Hendricks Scott	21	20	1		Black	New York	Electrocution	[33]
51	July 16, 1954	William Merle Martin	44	42	2		White	Kansas	Hanging	[34]
52	July 17, 1954	Marvin Rayson	28	27	1		Black	Texas	Electrocution	[35]
53	July 22, 1954	William J. Vander Wyde	40	38	2		White	New York		[1]
54	July 27, 1954	Theodore Walker	22	21	1		Black	New Jersey		[36]
55	July 30, 1954	Joseph Jerry Johansen	26	25			White	California	Gas chamber	[37]
56		James Franklin Wolfe	42	41
57	July 31, 1954	Bernard John O'Brien	34	32	2			U.S. military	Hanging	[38]
58	August 6, 1954	Sylvester Seymour	35	33			Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[39]
59		Samuel Brothers Nettles	31	30	1			Ohio		[1]
60	August 12, 1954	Gerhard Arthur Puff	40	38	2		White	Federal government		[40]
61	August 17, 1954	James Beard	38	37	1		Black	New Jersey		[41]
62	August 26, 1954	John Dale Greene	24	22	2		White	New York		[42]
63		Barry Jacobs	22	20
64	August 27, 1954	Willie Hayden	45	45	0		Black	South Carolina		[1]
65	September 1, 1954	Walter Eberle Whitaker Jr.	22	20	2		White	Texas		[43]
66	September 10, 1954	Alfred Sylvanus Dusseldorf	33	28	5		Black	California	Gas chamber	[44]
67	September 17, 1954	Howard Leroy Booker	35	33	2			Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
68	September 28, 1954	Tanner Brock	57	55			White	Florida		[45]
69		Orion Nathaniel Johnson	19	16	3		Black			[46]
70	September 29, 1954	Maurice Sampson	21	19	2			Texas		[47]
71	October 4, 1954	George Bailey Jr.	36	35	1			Florida		[48]
72		James Henderson	47	46
73		Avon Elwood North Sr.	37	34	3		White			[49]
74	October 14, 1954	Sterling Groom	43	40			Black	Virginia		[1]
75	October 29, 1954	Frederick Wallace Richard Heisler	33	30			White	New Mexico		[50]
76	November 5, 1954	Elliott Simon	55	55	0		Black	Georgia		[1]
77	November 8, 1954	Abraham Beard	18	16	2			Florida
78		Leroy Williams	37	33	4
79	November 10, 1954	James Dewey Johnson	30	30	0		White	Mississippi		[51]
80	November 19, 1954	Joe Lee Jones	17	16	1		Black	Georgia		[52]
81		Charles L. King	19	18
82	December 8, 1954	Donald Edward DeMag	31	29	2		White	Vermont		[53]
83	December 12, 1954	Calvin Eugene Davis	19	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia		[54]

Demographics

Gender
Male	81	98%
Female	2	2%
Ethnicity
Black	41	49%
White	40	48%
Hispanic	1	1%
Native American	1	1%
State
Georgia	12	14%
California	9	11%
Texas	9	11%
New York	8	10%
Florida	7	8%
South Carolina	5	6%
Alabama	4	5%
Ohio	4	5%
Pennsylvania	4	5%
Nevada	3	4%
Kansas	2	2%
Mississippi	2	2%
New Jersey	2	2%
New Mexico	2	2%
Vermont	2	2%
Virginia	2	2%
Arkansas	1	1%
Federal government	1	1%
Kentucky	1	1%
Maryland	1	1%
U.S. military	1	1%
West Virginia	1	1%
Method
Electrocution	67	81%
Gas chamber	12	14%
Hanging	4	5%
Month
January	6	7%
February	6	7%
March	11	13%
April	6	7%
May	6	7%
June	9	11%
July	13	16%
August	7	8%
September	6	7%
October	5	6%
November	6	7%
December	2	2%
Age
10–19	9	11%
20–29	28	34%
30–39	25	30%
40–49	13	16%
50–59	7	8%
60–69	1	1%
Total	83	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1955	79
1954	83
1953	63
Total	225

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 26, 2025.
2. "Forgotten Crimes: Canadian bandits murder jeweler in 'brutal' Main St. holdup". Buffalo News. July 6, 2017.
3. "Dovie Dean, the last woman put to death in Clermont County". The Clermont Sun. October 27, 2021.
4. "Hardie v. State". Justia Law.
5. "Wright v. State". vLex.
6. "People v. Thomas". Stanford Law School.
7. "Death Sentence Given in South Georgia Slaying". Rome News-Tribune. May 20, 1953. p. 5.
8. "Wheeler v. State". Justia Law.
9. "State v. Blair". Justia Law.
10. "People v. McCracken". Stanford Law School.
11. "Slayer Executed In New Mexico". Eugene Register-Guard. February 20, 1954. p. 5.
12. "People v. Daugherty". Justia Law.
13. "People v. Ortega". Justia Law.
14. "2 Electrocuted At Columbia In Death of Driver". The Gaffney Ledger via newspapers.com. March 11, 1954. p. 8.
15. "Otis Glenn Executed At State Penitentiary". The Times and Democrat via newspapers.com. March 13, 1954. p. 8.
16. "Execution Ends Ensminger Case Less Than 9 Months After Date of His Crime". The Sentinel via newspapers.com. March 30, 1954. p. 1.
17. "People v. Decaillet". Justia Law.
18. "State v. Bourdlais". Justia Law.
19. "Gage v. State". Justia Law.
20. "Jenkins v. State". Justia Law.
21. "Death Penalty Paid By Carney". The Robesonian via newspapers.com. May 7, 1954. p. 1.
22. "State v. Germany". Justia Law.
23. "Murderer, 29, Executed at Penitentiary". Richmond News Leader. May 26, 1954. p. 25.
24. "Texas Executes Pa. Man In Rape". The Evening Sun via newspapers.com. June 3, 1954. p. 4.
25. "Jackson v. State". Justia Law.
26. "Summary of the execution of Thomas Reed". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
27. "Georgia fights move to save doomed man". Baltimore Afro-American. April 6, 1954. p. 33.
28. "Rosary Held By Slayer Of Woman In Lake At Sharon Woods". The Cincinnati Enquirer via newspapers.com. June 12, 1954. p. 3.
29. "Electrocute two youths in Georgia". The Afro American. June 15, 1954. p. 44.
30. "Richardson v. State". Justia Law.
31. "People v. McGarry". Stanford Law School.
32. "Murderer joked to end at execution". Daily Mirror. July 16, 1954. p. 9.
33. "Murderer Executed". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 16, 1954. p. 46.
34. "Man Confesses Before Hanging". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 16, 1954. p. 46.
35. "Rayson v. State". Justia Law.
36. "State v. Walker". Justia Law.
37. "People v. Wolfe". Stanford Law School.
38. "Army Officer Hanged For Murder of Wife". Youngstown Vindicator. July 31, 1954. p. 5.
39. "Seymour v. State". Justia Law.
40. "Gerhard A. Puff, Appellant-petitioner, v. United States, Respondent.united States, Respondent, v. Gerhard A. Puff, Appellant-defendant, 214 F.2d 821 (2d Cir. 1954)". Justia Law.
41. "State v. Beard". Justia Law.
42. "APPEALS COURT DOOMS 2; New Yorkers Sentenced to Die for Killing in Car Theft". The New York Times. January 16, 1954.
43. "Lubbock's first execution in September, 1954". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. April 8, 2018.
44. "People v. Miller". Stanford Law School.
45. "Brock v. State". Justia Law.
46. "Johnson v. State". CaseMine.
47. "Sampson v. State". vLex.
48. "Henderson v. State". Justia Law.
49. "North Dies In Chair Maintaining Innocence". The Tampa Times via newspapers.com. October 5, 1954. p. 5.
50. "State v. Heisler". vLex.
51. "Johnson v. State". vLex.
52. "Summary of the execution of Charles King, Joe Jones". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
53. "State v. Demag". Justia Law.
54. "Davis v. State". vLex.

Preceded by 1953

List of people executed       in the United States in    1954

Succeeded by 1955