List of people executed in the United States in 1959

Fifty people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1959, forty by electrocution, nine by gas chamber, and one by hanging. ^[1]

The state of West Virginia would conduct its final execution this year, before abolishing capital punishment in 1965. Leonard Shockley became the last person to be executed while still a juvenile in the United States. John E. Day, who was executed by the military for war crimes committed during the Korean War, remains the last American to be executed for war crimes by his own country.

List of people executed in the United States in 1959

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 12, 1959	Willie Horne Jr.	25	23	2	Male	Black	Florida	Electrocution	[2]
2	January 19, 1959	Jimmie Lee Thomas	35	32	3					[3]
3	February 2, 1959	Dallas Edgar Withers	36	33			White			[4]
4	February 4, 1959	Phillip Slater		35	1		Black	Texas		[5]
5	February 6, 1959	J.C. Murray	54	53				Georgia		[6]
6	February 27, 1959	James Lewis Feldkamp	25	21	4		White	California	Gas chamber	[7]
7	March 7, 1959	Vernice Lonnie Craft	41	39	2		Black	Arizona		[1]
8	April 3, 1959	Elmer David Bruner					White	West Virginia	Electrocution	[8]
9	April 10, 1959	Leonard Melvin Shockley	17	16	1		Black	Maryland	Gas chamber	[9]
10	April 13, 1959	Lester G. Graves	23	22			White	Pennsylvania	Electrocution	[10]
11	April 24, 1959	Willis Dameron Boyd	24	23				Virginia		[1]
12		William Brown	56	55			Black			[11]
13	May 4, 1959	Cleveland Thompson	36	26	10			Pennsylvania		[1]
14	May 22, 1959	Richard G. Riser	33	29	4		White	California	Gas chamber	[12]
15		Edward Eckwerth	31	28	3			New York	Electrocution	[13]
16	May 28, 1959	Milton Williams	28	26	2		Black	Texas		[14]
17	May 29, 1959	Vender Lee Duncan	31		5			California	Gas chamber	[15]
18	June 1, 1959	Harley Austin Conner	58	55	3		White	Florida	Electrocution	[16]
19		John Frazier	44	42	2		Black			[17]
20		Frank Peterson	28	27	1					[18]
21	June 5, 1959	Frank Junior Hill	36	35				Georgia		[1]
22	June 15, 1959	Thomas Rutledge	33	32			White	Tennessee		[19]
23	June 24, 1959	Carl Daniel Kier	23	20	3		Black	Maryland	Gas chamber	[20]
24	June 25, 1959	Charles Raymond Starkweather	20	19	1		White	Nebraska	Electrocution	[21]
25	June 26, 1959	Cecil Herman Ward	26	24	2			California	Gas chamber	[22]
26	July 3, 1959	Walter J. Byomin	42	40				Ohio	Electrocution	[23]
27	July 16, 1959	Ralph Dawkins	24	22			Black	New York		[24]
28		Jackson Turner Jr.	23	21						[1]
29	July 23, 1959	Leroy Keith	52	49	3					[25]
30	July 24, 1959	Lawrence Smith	19	18	1			Arkansas		[26]
31	August 4, 1959	Jessie Doffies Smith	42	41				Texas		[1]
32	August 7, 1959	William Charlton	23	22				Georgia		[27]
33	August 21, 1959	Stephen A. Nash	35	32	3		White	California	Gas chamber	[28]
34	August 28, 1959	E.C. Daniels	49	47	2		Black	Florida	Electrocution	[29]
35		Sam Wiley Odom	20	18						[30]
36	September 18, 1959	Harvey Murray Glatman	31	29			White	California	Gas chamber	[31]
37	September 20, 1959	George James Davies	41	38	3			Connecticut	Electrocution	[32]
38	September 23, 1959	John E. Day Jr.	30	21	9		Black	U.S. military	Hanging	[1]
39	September 25, 1959	Leo Lee	56	53	3			Arkansas	Electrocution	[33]
40	October 2, 1959	William Young	40	39	1					[1]
41		Thomas Walker	52	50	2					[34]
42	October 23, 1959	J.T. House	25	24	1					[1]
43		Arthur Hayes	44	43						[1]
44	October 26, 1959	Frank Wojculewicz	42	34	8		White	Connecticut		[35]
45	October 28, 1959	Robert Lee Williams	22	20	2		Black	Pennsylvania		[36]
46	November 13, 1959	Willie George City		21	1			Florida		[1]
47		John Edward Paul	24	Unknown	Unknown					[37]
48	December 4, 1959	Ernest Cornell Walker	25	24	1			Alabama		[38]
49	December 11, 1959	Edwin Ray Dockery	26	25			White			[39]
50	December 18, 1959	Eddie Wilson	25	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia		[40]

Demographics

Gender
Male	50	100%
Female	0	0%
Ethnicity
Black	33	66%
White	17	34%
State
Florida	10	20%
Arkansas	6	12%
California	6	12%
Georgia	4	8%
New York	4	8%
Pennsylvania	3	6%
Texas	3	6%
Alabama	2	4%
Connecticut	2	4%
Maryland	2	4%
Virginia	2	4%
Arizona	1	2%
Nebraska	1	2%
Ohio	1	2%
Tennessee	1	2%
U.S. military	1	2%
West Virginia	1	2%
Method
Electrocution	40	80%
Gas chamber	9	18%
Hanging	1	2%
Month
January	2	4%
February	4	8%
March	1	2%
April	5	10%
May	5	10%
June	8	16%
July	5	10%
August	5	10%
September	4	8%
October	6	12%
November	2	4%
December	3	6%
Age
10–19	2	4%
20–29	20	40%
30–39	12	24%
40–49	10	20%
50–59	6	12%
Total	50	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1960	56
1959	50
1958	50
Total	156

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
2. "The governor and the condemned man's sister". Tampa Bay Times. March 17, 1991.
3. "Thomas v. State". Cetient.
4. "Withers v. State". CaseMine.
5. "Slater v. State". CourtListener.
6. "Murray v. State". Justia Law.
7. "Stolid Killer Dies In Gas Chamber". Daily Independent Journal via newspapers.com. February 27, 1959. p. 1.
8. "State v. Bruner". Justia Law.
9. "Shockley v. State". vLex.
10. "Commonwealth v. Graves". CourtListener.
11. "Verdict In Negro Murder Trial Postponed". Northern Virginia Daily. January 13, 1959. p. 5.
12. "People v. Riser". Justia Law.
13. "United States of America Ex Rel. Edward Eckwerth, Appellant, v. Wilfred L. Denno, Warden of Sing Sing Prison, Respondent, 261 F.2d 511 (2d Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
14. "Williams v. State". Justia Law.
15. "Slayer's Appeal Rejected". The San Francisco Examiner via newspapers.com. February 4, 1959. p. 24.
16. "Conner v. State". vLex.
17. "Negro Sentenced To Die In Chair". The Orlando Sentinel via newspapers.com. December 13, 1957. p. 9.
18. "Negro Returned to Florida To Face Trial for Murder". Wellsville Daily Reporter. November 18, 1958. p. 9.
19. "Rutledge Executed At Penitentiary". The Jackson Sun via newspapers.com. June 15, 1959. p. 1.
20. "Killer Dies In Gas Chamber For Murder Of Mrs. Bopst". The Baltimore Sun via newspapers.com. June 15, 1959. p. 1.
21. "Charles R. Starkweather, Relator and Plaintiff, Appellant, v. John Greenholtz, Deputy and Acting Warden, Nebraska State Penitentiary, Respondent and Defendant, Appellee, 267 F.2d 858 (8th Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
22. "Cecil Herman Ward, Appellant, v. State of California, Respondent, 269 F.2d 906 (9th Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
23. "State v. Byomin". CourtListener.
24. "Court Denies Appeal Of an Executed Killer". The New York Times. October 20, 1959.
25. "SLAYER DIES IN CHAIR; Killer of Bronx Taxi Driver Electrocuted at Sing Sing". The New York Times. July 24, 1959.
26. "Smith v. State". CaseMine.
27. "Smith v. State". Justia Law.
28. "People v. Nash". Stanford Law School.
29. "Daniels v. State". Justia Law.
30. "Odom v. State". Justia Law.
31. "People v. Glatman". Stanford Law School.
32. "State v. Davies". Justia Law.
33. "Lee v. State". Justia Law.
34. "Walker v. State". CaseMine.
35. "State v. Wojculewicz". Justia Law.
36. "Com. v. Williams". vLex.
37. "Paul v. State". vLex.
38. "Walker v. State". Justia Law.
39. "Dockery v. State". Justia Law.
40. "Wilson v. State". Justia Law.

Preceded by 1958

List of people executed       in the United States in    1959

Succeeded by 1960