List of people executed in the United States in 1961

Last updated

Forty-three people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1961, twenty-four by electrocution, eighteen by gas chamber, and one by hanging. [1]

Contents

The United States military would conduct its most recent execution this year.

List of people executed in the United States in 1961

No.Date of executionNameAge of personGenderEthnicityStateMethodRef.
At executionAt offenseAge difference
1January 5, 1961Ralph Downs28262MaleBlack New York Electrocution [1]
2January 20, 1961Roy Lee Mullins24231White Georgia [2]
3February 17, 1961Linwood Burch23UnknownUnknownBlack Virginia [1]
4March 10, 1961Grover Earl Lucas51483White [3]
5March 17, 1961H.B. Penelton30282Black Ohio [1]
6March 24, 1961Thurmond Johnson26UnknownUnknownGeorgia [1]
7April 13, 1961 John Arthur Bennett 25187 U.S. military Hanging [4]
8April 21, 1961William Stokes27261 Mississippi Gas chamber [5]
9April 26, 1961Alexander P. Robillard XIV2019White California [6]
10April 28, 1961Quincy Bullock48453Black South Carolina Electrocution [7]
11May 26, 1961Charlie Robinson28262 [8]
12May 31, 1961Robert Lee Goldsby35287MississippiGas chamber [9]
13June 3, 1961Charles Elbert Williams20191 Texas Electrocution [10]
14June 8, 1961Woodrow Miller33294New York [1]
15June 9, 1961Jessie James Ferguson39372 Louisiana [11]
16 Nathaniel Lipscomb 32293 Maryland Gas chamber [12]
17June 15, 1961 Richard Edward Kiefer 40355White Indiana Electrocution [13]
18June 19, 1961William Otis Britt27243South Carolina [14]
19Douglas Westbury3128 [14]
20June 23, 1961James Edwards30282BlackTexas [15]
21June 29, 1961Ronald Rittger2523WhiteCaliforniaGas chamber [16]
22July 12, 1961Marion James Linden47434 [17]
23July 14, 1961J.W. Simmons27261BlackMississippi [18]
24Walter James Outen31292South CarolinaElectrocution [19]
25August 7, 1961Norman J. Mackiewicz35323White Florida [20]
26Robert Wesley Davis28262 [20]
27August 11, 1961David Francis Early32293 Colorado Gas chamber [1]
28George Watt21UnknownUnknownBlackGeorgiaElectrocution [1]
29August 23, 1961Thayne H. Archibald22202White Nevada Gas chamber [21]
30October 18, 1961David Allan Combes32311California [22]
31October 23, 1961Arthur Grover Schuck45414 Pennsylvania Electrocution [23]
32October 27, 1961Theodore Harson Boykin32311Black North Carolina Gas chamber [24]
33October 31, 1961Honor Robinson44422 Arizona [25]
34November 3, 1961James Kendrick3129WhiteCalifornia [26]
35November 9, 1961Fred Thomas Leath4038TexasElectrocution [27]
36November 17, 1961Claude Leon Hart Jr.31310Virginia [1]
37November 21, 1961Richard Arlen Lindsey301CaliforniaGas chamber [28]
38Billy Wesley Monk26242 [29]
39November 24, 1961Joe Henry Johnson1917Black Alabama Electrocution [30]
40November 29, 1961Jose Angel Gonzalez27261HispanicCaliforniaGas chamber [31]
41December 8, 1961Jim Cobbs46UnknownUnknownBlackVirginiaElectrocution [1]
42December 19, 1961Howard Cook33321MississippiGas chamber [32]
43December 20, 1961Ellic Lee3130 [32]

Demographics

Gender
Male43
Female0
Ethnicity
Black23
White19
Hispanic1
State
California 8
Mississippi 5
South Carolina 5
Virginia 4
Georgia 3
Texas 3
Florida 2
New York 2
Alabama 1
Arizona 1
Colorado 1
Indiana 1
Louisiana 1
Maryland 1
Nevada 1
North Carolina 1
Ohio 1
Pennsylvania 1
U.S. military 1
Method
Electrocution 24
Gas chamber 18
Hanging 1
Month
January2
February1
March3
April4
May2
June9
July3
August5
September0
October4
November7
December3
Age
10–191
20–2917
30–3917
40–497
50–591
Total43100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1962 47
196143
1960 56
Total146

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Executions in the U.S. 1608–2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. "Convicted Killer Roy Lee Mullins To Get Sanity Test". The Macon News via newspapers.com. November 4, 1960. p. 18.
  3. "Lucas v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
  4. "A look at the last U.S. soldier executed by the military". CNN. July 28, 2013.
  5. "Stokes v. State". Justia Law.
  6. "People v. Robillard". vLex.
  7. "There's no dignity in electric chair". The Herald via newspapers.com. April 29, 1961. p. 3.
  8. "State v. Robinson". Justia Law.
  9. "Goldsby v. State". Justia Law.
  10. "Williams v. State". Justia Law.
  11. "State v. Ferguson". Justia Law.
  12. "1961: puff of smoke and a killer died". The Baltimore Sun. September 28, 1993.
  13. "Kiefer v. State". vLex.
  14. 1 2 "Stays of Execution Denied Otis Britt, Douglas Westbury". The State via newspapers.com. June 17, 1961. p. 13.
  15. "Convicted Rapist Dies In Chair". The Daily News-Texan via newspapers.com. June 23, 1961. p. 3.
  16. "People v. Rittger". Justia Law.
  17. "Marion James Linden, Appellant, v. Fred R. Dickson, Warden, California State Prison, San Quentin, Appellee, 287 F.2d 55 (9th Cir. 1961)". Justia Law.
  18. "Simmons v. State". Justia Law.
  19. "State v. Outen". Justia Law.
  20. 1 2 "A Double Death At Dawn". Tampa Bay Times via newspapers.com. August 8, 1961. p. 1.
  21. "Archibald v. State". Justia Law.
  22. "People v. Combes". Stanford Law School.
  23. "Arthur Schuck Electrocuted For 1958 Ambush Murder". The Evening Sun via newspapers.com. October 24, 1961. p. 9.
  24. "State v. Boykin". Justia Law.
  25. "State v. Robinson". Justia Law.
  26. "People v. Kendrick". Stanford Law School.
  27. "Leath v. State". Justia Law.
  28. "People v. Lindsey". Stanford Law School.
  29. "People v. Monk". Stanford Law School.
  30. "Johnson v. State". Justia Law.
  31. "People v. Gonzalez". Justia Law.
  32. 1 2 "Lee v. State". CaseMine.
Preceded by
1960
   List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
1961
Succeeded by
1962