The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Utah.
List of people executed in Utah since 1976
[edit]No. | Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gary Mark Gilmore | White | 36 | M | January 17, 1977 | Utah | Firing squad | Bennie Bushnell[a] | Scott M. Matheson |
2 | Dale Selby Pierre | Black | 34 | M | August 28, 1987 | Weber[b] | Lethal injection | Stanley Orren Walker, Michelle Ansley, and Carol Elaine Naisbitt | Norman Bangerter |
3 | Arthur Gary Bishop | White | 35 | M | June 10, 1988 | Salt Lake | 5 murder victims[c] | ||
4 | William D. Andrews | Black | 37 | M | July 30, 1992 | Weber[d] | Stanley Orren Walker, Michelle Ansley, and Carol Elaine Naisbitt | ||
5 | John Albert Taylor | White | 36 | M | January 26, 1996 | Firing squad | Charla Nicole King | Mike Leavitt | |
6 | Joseph Mitchell Parsons | White | 35 | M | October 15, 1999 | Iron | Lethal injection | Richard Lynn Ernest | |
7 | Ronnie Lee Gardner | White | 49 | M | June 18, 2010 | Salt Lake | Firing squad | Michael Burdell[e] | Gary Herbert |
8 | Taberon Dave Honie | Native American | 48 | M | August 8, 2024 | Iron | Lethal injection | Claudia Marie Benn | Spencer Cox |
Demographics
[edit]Race | ||
---|---|---|
White | 5 | 63% |
Black | 2 | 25% |
Native American | 1 | 13% |
Age | ||
30–39 | 6 | 75% |
40–49 | 2 | 25% |
Sex | ||
Male | 8 | 100% |
Date of execution | ||
1976–1979 | 1 | 13% |
1980–1989 | 2 | 25% |
1990–1999 | 3 | 38% |
2000–2009 | 0 | 0% |
2010–2019 | 1 | 13% |
2020–2029 | 1 | 13% |
Method | ||
Lethal injection | 5 | 63% |
Firing squad | 3 | 38% |
Governor (Party) | ||
Cal Rampton (D) | 0 | 0% |
Scott M. Matheson (D) | 1 | 13% |
Norman Bangerter (R) | 3 | 38% |
Mike Leavitt (R) | 2 | 25% |
Olene Walker (R) | 0 | 0% |
Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) | 0 | 0% |
Gary Herbert (R) | 1 | 13% |
Spencer Cox (R) | 1 | 13% |
Total | 8 | 100% |
List of people executed in Utah from 1850 to 1960
[edit]# | Name | Date of execution | Method of execution | Victim(s) | Governor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | Patsowits[1] and his brother[2] | Spring 1850 | Garroting | Patsowits killed an emigrant settler and his brother had made several death threats[2] | — |
– | An emigrant[3] | 1850 | Beheading | — | |
1 2 |
Antelope and Long Hair[4] | September 15, 1854 | Hanging | Two sons of a Mormon bishop in Cedar Valley[4][5] | Brigham Young |
3 | Thomas H. Ferguson[6] | October 28, 1858[7] | Alexander Carpenter[8] | Alfred Cumming | |
4 | William Cockcroft[7] | September 21, 1861 | Firing squad | Robert Brown | vacant |
– | "Unknown Man"[9] | 1862 | Unknown person | ||
5 | Jason R. Luce[10] | January 12, 1864 | Samuel R. Bunton[11] | James Duane Doty | |
6 | Robert Sutton[12] | October 10, 1866 | Frederick White[8] | Charles Durkee | |
7 | Chauncy W. Millard[12] | January 29, 1869 | Harlem P. Swett[10] | vacant | |
8 | John Doyle Lee | March 23, 1877 | Mountain Meadows massacre | George W. Emery | |
9 | Wallace Wilkerson[13] | May 16, 1879 | Firing squad (botched)[1] | William Baxter | |
10 | Frederick Hopt (a.k.a. Fred Welcome)[14] | August 11, 1887 | Firing squad | John Franklin Turner | Caleb Walton West |
11 | Enoch Davis[15] | September 14, 1894 | Enoch's wife | ||
– | An American Indian man[2] | 1896 | A white woman | ||
12 | Charles H. Thiede[16] | August 7, 1896 | Hanging | Thiede's wife | Heber Manning Wells |
13 | Pat Coughlin[17] | December 15, 1896 | Firing squad | Deputy Sheriff Dawes and Constable Stagg | |
14 | Peter Mortensen[18] | November 20, 1903 | James R. Hay[19] | ||
15 | Frank Rose[18] | April 22, 1904 | Rose's wife | ||
16 | J. J. Morris[9] | April 30, 1912 | Hanging[5] | Morris' wife[20] | William Spry |
17 | Jules C. E. Szirmay (a.k.a. Jules Zirmay)[9] | May 22, 1912 | Firing squad | Thomas Karrick, a school boy | |
18 | Harry Thorne[21] | September 26, 1912 | A grocery clerk | ||
19 | Thomas Riley[9] | October 24, 1912 | A grocery clerk | ||
20 | Frank Romeo[21] | February 20, 1913 | Albert Jenkins[22] | ||
21 | Joe Hill | November 19, 1915 | John G. Morrison and his son Arlington | ||
22 | Howard DeWeese[23] | May 24, 1918 | His wife | Simon Bamberger | |
23 | John Borich[23] | January 20, 1919 | A woman for insurance money | ||
24 | Steve Maslich[9] | January 20, 1922 | Marco Laus | Charles R. Mabey | |
25 | Nick Oblizalo[9] | June 9, 1922 | |||
26 | George H. Gardner[24] | August 31, 1923 | Joseph Irvine and a police officer | ||
27 | Omer R. Woods[25] | January 18, 1924 | Woods' invalid wife | ||
28 | Henry C. Hett (a.k.a. George Allen)[25] | February 20, 1925 | Police sergeant Nephi Pierce | George Dern | |
29 | Pedro Cano [26] | May 19, 1925 | A woman in Park City | ||
30 | Ralph W. Seyboldt[27] | January 15, 1926 | Patrolman David H Crowther | ||
31 | Edward McGowan [28] | February 5, 1926 | Bob Blevins (and raped his wife and daughters)[28][29] | ||
32 | Delbert Green[30] | July 10, 1936 | Green's foster father/uncle James Green, mother-in-law/aunt, and wife | Henry H. Blood | |
33 | John W. Deering[31] | October 31, 1938 | Oliver R. Meredith Jr. | ||
34 | Donald Lawton Condit[32] | July 30, 1942 | Harold A. Thorne | Herbert B. Maw | |
35 | Robert Walter Avery[33] | February 5, 1943 | Detective Hoyt L. Gates | ||
36 | Austin Cox Jr.[34] | June 19, 1944 | Judge Lewis V. Trueman (also killed two other men and two women) | ||
37 | James Joseph Roedl[35] | July 13, 1945 | Abigail Agnes Williams | ||
38 | Eliseo J. Mares Jr.[36] | September 10, 1951 | Jack D. Stallings | J. Bracken Lee | |
39 | Ray Dempsey Gardner[35] | September 29, 1951 | Shirley Jean Gretzinger | ||
40 | Don Jesse Neal[37] | July 1, 1955 | Sgt. Owen T. Farley | ||
41 42 |
Verne Alfred Braasch and Melvin Leroy Sullivan[38] | May 11, 1956 | Howard Manzione[39] | ||
43 | Barton Kay Kirkham | June 7, 1958 | Hanging (last in Utah) | David Avon Frame[f] | George Dewey Clyde |
44 | James W. Rodgers[40] | March 30, 1960 | Firing squad[41] | Charles Merrifield[42] |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Also killed Max David Jensen, but was executed for murdering Bushnell.
- ^ Was tried and convicted in Davis County, on a change of venue.
- ^ The five murder victims were: Alonzo Daniels, Claude Kimley Peterson, Danny Davis, Troy Ward, and Graeme Cunningham.
- ^ William D. Andrews was tried and convicted in Davis County, on a change of venue.
- ^ Also killed Melvyn John Otterstrom, but was executed for murdering Burdell.
- ^ Also killed Ruth Holmes Webster, but was executed for murdering Frame.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Schindler, Hal (January 28, 1996). "Taylor's Death Was Quick . . . But Some Weren't So Lucky". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
- ^ a b c The Unforgiven – 02 |
- ^ "Utah History to Go". Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- ^ a b Wilson, R. Michael (2010). Legal Executions in the Western Territories, 1847–1911. McFarland & Company. p. 164. ISBN 9780786456338. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ a b "Utah: Tales of the Firing Squad". Time. July 11, 1955. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
- ^ Schindler, Hal (June 27, 1993). "Lengthy Gallows Soliloquoy [sic] Impedes Swift Justice". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ a b Wilson (2010). Legal Executions in the Western Territories. McFarland. p. 165. ISBN 9780786456338.
- ^ a b Schindler, Hal (August 27, 1995). "The Disappearance of John Baptiste Grave: Robber's Case Is 'A Lost Page of History'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ a b c d e f Martz, Maxine (January 15, 1977). "Gilmore would be No. 45 on death list". Deseret News. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ a b Elder, Robert K.; Terkel, Studs (2010). Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780226202693. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Affairs in Utah: A Murder Theatricals and Lectures Mercantile". New York Times. May 16, 1879. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ a b Wilson (2010). Legal Executions in the Western Territories. McFarland. p. 167. ISBN 9780786456338.
- ^ "The Death Penalty for Murder". Deseret Evening News. George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young. May 16, 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
- ^ Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. p. 110. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ Wilson, R. Michael (2007). Frontier Justice in the Wild West: Bungled, Bizarre, and Fascinating Executions. Globe Pequot. p. 106. ISBN 9780762743896. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ Salt Lake Herald December 16, 1896 also .p.4; on July 30, 1895 he had killed Deputy Sheriff Edward N. Dawes of Unita County Wyoming [1] and Constable Thomas Stagg of Echo County Utah [2]
- ^ a b Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ "Peter Mortensen Must Die— Prisoner Stunned By News". Deseret News. August 13, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Hidden Rifles to Fulfill Execution Wish of Slayer". The Pittsburgh Press. Vol. 55, no. 123. United Press International. October 27, 1938. p. 2. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ a b Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ Pratt, Harmel L. (1914). Reports of cases decided in the Supreme Court of the state of Utah, Vol. 42. A.L. Bancroft & Company. p. 48. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ a b Cutler, Christopher Q. (2002). "Nothing less than the Dignity of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions and Utah's Controversial Use of the Firing Squad". Cleveland State Law Review. Retrieved 2010-11-10. (subscription required)
- ^ Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 116. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ a b Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 117. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ Gillespie, L. Kay (1997). The Unforgiven: Utah's Executed Men. Signature Books. p. 100. ISBN 9781560850984. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Firing Squad Kills Slayer". Los Angeles Times. January 16, 1926. p. 6. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved 2010-11-10. (subscription required)
- ^ a b Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 118. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ Gillespie (1997). The Unforgiven. p. 105. ISBN 9781560850984.
- ^ "Utah Firing Squad Executes Slayer". The Evening Independent. Associated Press. July 10, 1936. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 119. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ "Murderer Killed By Firing Squad". The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. July 31, 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 120. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ "Killer of Five Executed by Utah Firing Squad". The Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. June 19, 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ a b Elder; et al. (2010). Last Words of the Executed. p. 121. ISBN 9780226202693.
- ^ "Utah Firing Squad Executes Slayer". The Pittsburgh Press. United Press International. September 10, 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Condemned Killer Dies Before Utah Firing Squad". Oxnard Press-Courier. United Press International. July 1, 1955. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Benedict, Howard S. (May 11, 1956). "Utah Executes Two Murderers". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Utah Killers Face Firing Squad Today". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Associated Press. May 11, 1956. p. 20. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Slayer Shot By Firing Squad". The Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. March 31, 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Beecham, Bill (November 11, 1976). "Convicted Killer Gets His Wish: Firing Squad Monday". The Telegraph (Nashua). Associated Press. p. 22. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Grim Jokes Are Tossed Before Death". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. March 31, 1960. p. 19. Retrieved 2010-10-29.