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.
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] |
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% |
Number of executions | |
---|---|
1960 | 56 |
1959 | 50 |
1958 | 50 |
Total | 156 |
Preceded by 1958 | List of people executed in the United States in 1959 | Succeeded by 1960 |