List of people executed in Iowa

Last updated

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Iowa from 1834 to 1963.

Contents

Capital punishment was abolished in Iowa in 1965. [1] 45 people were executed in Iowa from 1834-1963, all by hanging. [2] In 2020, a man from Iowa, Dustin Lee Honken, was federally executed at USP Terre Haute by lethal injection. [3]

List of people executed in Iowa

State executions

NameRaceSexDate of ExecutionMethodCrime(s)
Patrick O’ConnorWhiteMJune 30, 1834 Hanging Murder
William McCauleyMay 13, 1845 Murder
William HodgeJuly 15, 1845 Robbery and Murder
Stephen Hodge Robbery and Murder
William HinkleAugust 13, 1858 Murder
F. GillickApril 27, 1860 Murder
N. A. JohnsonMay 18, 1860 Robbery and Murder
Daniel CliffordJune 19, 1860 Robbery and Murder
Benjamin McCombFebruary 17, 1865 Murder
Chester BellowsDecember 16, 1887 Murder
Henry SchmidtJanuary 15, 1888 Murder
James DooleyJanuary 19, 1894 Rape and Murder
Jacob CumberlandFebruary 8, 1895 Murder
Joseph SmithBlackApril 20, 1906 Murder
John JunkinsJuly 29, 1910 Robbery and Murder
Stanley GrammellJuly 5, 1918 Rape
Robert Johnson Rape
Fred Allen Rape
Ira PaveyWhiteSeptember 8, 1922 Murder
Eugene WeeksSeptember 15, 1922 Robbery and Murder
Orrie CrossNovember 24, 1922 Robbery and Murder
Earl ThrostMarch 9, 1923 Murder
William OlanderSeptember 7, 1923 Robbery and Murder
Roy MaupinBlackJanuary 18, 1924 Murder
Archie BurrisJanuary 2, 1925 Murder
Harland SimmonsWhiteNovember 16, 1925 Robbery and Murder
J. A. R. AltringerNovember 6, 1931 Murder
Elmer BrewerJune 5, 1935 Murder
Pat Griffin Murder
Reginald TracyNovember 29, 1935 Murder
Allen WheatonJanuary 24, 1938 Robbery and Murder
John Mercer Murder
Franz JacobsonApril 19, 1938 Murder
Marlo Heinz Murder
Walter RhodesMay 7, 1940 Murder
Ivan SullivanNovember 12, 1941 Murder
Stanley KasterDecember 29, 1944 Robbery and Murder
William JarrettFebruary 23, 1945 Murder
William HeincyMarch 29, 1946 Robbery and Murder
Philip Heincy Robbery and Murder
Corliss BruntlettJuly 6, 1949 Robbery and Murder
Edward James BeckwithAugust 4, 1952 Rape and Murder
Charles Noel Brown July 24, 1962 Robbery and Murder
Charles Edwin Kelley September 6, 1962 Robbery and Murder

Federal executions

NameRaceSexDate of ExecutionPlace of ExecutionMethodCrime(s)
Victor Feguer WhiteMMarch 15, 1963 Iowa State Penitentiary Hanging Kidnapping (victim killed)
Dustin Lee Honken July 17, 2020 USP Terre Haute Lethal injection Murder

See also

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Legal penalty in the United States

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment by the United States federal government</span> Legal penalty in the United States

Capital punishment is a legal punishment under the criminal justice system of the United States federal government. It is the most serious punishment that could be imposed under federal law. The serious crimes that warrant this punishment include treason, espionage, murder, large-scale drug trafficking, or attempted murder of a witness, juror, or court officer in certain cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in California</span> Legal penalty in the US state of California

In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is not allowed to be carried out as of March 2019, because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Before the moratorium, executions had been frozen by a federal court order since 2006, and the litigation resulting in the court order has been on hold since the promulgation of the moratorium. Thus, there will be a court-ordered moratorium on executions after the termination of Newsom's moratorium if capital punishment remains a legal penalty in California by then.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Maryland</span>

Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Feguer</span> American murderer

Victor Harry Feguer was a convicted murderer, and the last federal inmate executed in the United States before the moratorium on the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia, as well as the last person put to death in the state of Iowa. While the media did not pay much attention to Feguer or his execution at the time, Timothy McVeigh's execution sparked renewed media interest in him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett</span> 2004 murder in Skidmore, Missouri, U.S.

Bobbie Jo Stinnett was an American, 23-year-old, pregnant woman who was murdered in Skidmore, Missouri, in December 2004. The perpetrator, Lisa Marie Montgomery, then aged 36 years old, strangled Stinnett to death and cut her fetus from her womb. Montgomery was arrested in Kansas the next day and charged with kidnapping resulting in death – a federal crime. Stinnett's baby, who had survived the crude caesarean section, was safely recovered by authorities and returned to the father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 Iowa murders</span> American mass murder case

Dustin Lee Honken and Angela Jane Johnson are American mass murderers convicted of the 1993 murders of five people in Iowa.

Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution, even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists. In the United States, after an individual is found guilty of a capital offense in states where execution is a legal penalty, the judge will give the jury the option of imposing a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It is then up to the jury to decide whether to give the death sentence; this usually has to be a unanimous decision. If the jury agrees on death, the defendant will remain on death row during appeal and habeas corpus procedures, which may continue for several decades.

Capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty, was a legal form of punishment from 1620 to 1984 in Massachusetts, United States. This practice dates back to the state's earliest European settlers. Those sentenced to death were hanged. Common crimes punishable by death included religious affiliations and murder.

Capital punishment has been abolished in Iowa since 1965. Forty-five men were executed by hanging in Iowa between 1834 and 1963 for crimes including murder, rape, and robbery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Bernard</span> American criminal (1980–2020)

Brandon Anthony Micah Bernard was an American man convicted and executed for the 1999 robbery, kidnapping, and murder of Todd Bagley, 26, and Stacie Bagley, 28. He was sentenced to death for the murders and remained on death row until his execution in December 2020. Bernard's conviction and execution attracted controversy due to questions about the extent of his culpability in the murders. In the time leading to his execution, prominent politicians, public figures, and five surviving jurors who convicted him advocated for his sentence to be commuted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dustin Higgs</span> American criminal (1972–2021)

Dustin John Higgs was an American man who was executed by the United States federal government, having been convicted and sentenced to death for the January 1996 murders of three women in Maryland. Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson, and Mishann Chinn were all shot and killed near the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Prince George's County, Maryland. Because this is classed as federal land, he was tried by the federal government rather than by the state of Maryland. His case, conviction, and execution were the subject of multiple controversies.

References

  1. "Abolition of capital punishment in Iowa". statelaws.findlaw.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  2. "Executions in Iowa, from 1834-1963". deathpenaltyusa.org. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  3. "Dustin Lee Honken executed". apnews.com. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.