List of people executed in Utah explained
The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Utah.
List of people executed in Utah since 1976
| Name | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Method | Victim(s) | Governor |
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1 | | White | 36 | M | January 17, 1977 | Utah | Firing squad | Bennie Bushnell | Scott M. Matheson |
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2 | | Black | 34 | M | August 28, 1987 | Weber | Lethal injection | Stanley Orren Walker, Michelle Ansley, and Carol Elaine Naisbitt | Norman Bangerter |
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3 | | White | 35 | M | June 10, 1988 | Salt Lake | 5 murder victims |
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4 | | Black | 37 | M | July 30, 1992 | Weber | Stanley Orren Walker, Michelle Ansley, and Carol Elaine Naisbitt |
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5 | | White | 36 | M | January 26, 1996 | Firing squad | Charla Nicole King | Mike Leavitt |
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6 | | White | 35 | M | October 15, 1999 | Iron | Lethal injection | Richard Lynn Ernest |
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7 | | White | 49 | M | June 18, 2010 | Salt Lake | Firing squad | Michael Burdell | Gary Herbert |
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8 | | | Native American | 48 | M | August 8, 2024 | Iron | Lethal injection | Claudia Marie Benn | Spencer Cox |
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Demographics
List of people executed in Utah from 1850 to 1960
| Name | Date of execution | Method of execution | Victim(s) | Governor |
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– | Patsowits[1] and his brother[2] | Spring 1850 | Garroting | Patsowits killed an emigrant settler and his brother had made several death threats | — |
– | 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[5] | Brigham Young |
3 | Thomas H. Ferguson[6] | October 28, 1858[7] | Alexander Carpenter[8] | Alfred Cumming |
4 | William Cockcroft | September 21, 1861 | Firing squad | Robert Brown | vacant |
– | "Unknown Man" | 1862 | Unknown person | |
5 | Jason R. Luce[9] | January 12, 1864 | Samuel R. Bunton[10] | James Duane Doty |
6 | Robert Sutton[11] | October 10, 1866 | Frederick White | Charles Durkee |
7 | Chauncy W. Millard | January 29, 1869 | Harlem P. Swett | vacant |
8 | John Doyle Lee | March 23, 1877 | Mountain Meadows massacre | George W. Emery |
9 | Wallace Wilkerson[12] | May 16, 1879 | Firing squad (botched) | William Baxter |
10 | Frederick Hopt (a.k.a. Fred Welcome)[13] | August 11, 1887 | Firing squad | John Franklin Turner | Caleb Walton West |
11 | Enoch Davis[14] | September 14, 1894 | Enoch's wife |
– | An American Indian man | 1896 | | A white woman | |
12 | Charles H. Thiede[15] | August 7, 1896 | Hanging | Thiede's wife | Heber Manning Wells |
13 | Pat Coughlin[16] | December 15, 1896 | Firing squad | Deputy Sheriff Dawes and Constable Stagg |
14 | Peter Mortensen[17] | November 20, 1903 | James R. Hay[18] |
15 | Frank Rose | April 22, 1904 | Rose's wife |
16 | J. J. Morris[19] | April 30, 1912 | Hanging | Morris' wife[20] | William Spry |
17 | Jules C. E. Szirmay (a.k.a. Jules Zirmay) | May 22, 1912 | Firing squad | Thomas Karrick, a school boy |
18 | Harry Thorne[21] | September 26, 1912 | A grocery clerk |
19 | Thomas Riley | October 24, 1912 | A grocery clerk |
20 | Frank Romeo | 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 | January 20, 1919 | A woman for insurance money |
24 | Steve Maslich | January 20, 1922 | Marco Laus | Charles R. Mabey |
25 | Nick Oblizalo | 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) | 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)[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 | Eliseo J. Mares Jr.[36] | September 10, 1951 | Jack D. Stallings | J. Bracken Lee |
39 | Ray Dempsey Gardner | 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 | George Dewey Clyde |
44 | James W. Rodgers[40] | March 30, 1960 | Firing squad[41] | Charles Merrifield[42] |
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See also
Notes and References
- News: Schindler. Hal. Taylor's Death Was Quick . . . But Some Weren't So Lucky. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2010-06-26. January 28, 1996. 2010-06-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20100610134103/http://historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/in_another_time/012896.html. dead.
- http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=7605 The Unforgiven – 02 |
- Web site: Utah History to Go . 2017-06-08 . 2010-06-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100610134103/http://historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/in_another_time/012896.html . dead .
- Book: Wilson, R. Michael. Legal Executions in the Western Territories, 1847–1911. McFarland & Company. 164. November 1, 2010. 2010. 9780786456338.
- Utah: Tales of the Firing Squad. https://web.archive.org/web/20081215060857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807318,00.html. dead. December 15, 2008. Time. July 11, 1955. February 13, 2011.
- News: Schindler. Hal. Lengthy Gallows Soliloquoy [sic] Impedes Swift Justice. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2010-11-01. June 27, 1993.
- Book: Wilson. Legal Executions in the Western Territories. 165. 2010. McFarland . 9780786456338.
- News: Schindler. Hal. The Disappearance of John Baptiste Grave: Robber's Case Is 'A Lost Page of History'. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2010-11-01. August 27, 1995.
- Book: Elder, Robert K.. Terkel, Studs. Last Words of the Executed. University of Chicago Press. 107. 2010-11-01. 2010. 9780226202693.
- News: Affairs in Utah: A Murder Theatricals and Lectures Mercantile. New York Times. 2010-11-01. May 16, 1879.
- Book: Wilson. Legal Executions in the Western Territories. 167. 2010. McFarland . 9780786456338.
- News: The Death Penalty for Murder. Deseret Evening News. 2. George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young. 2010-10-06. May 16, 1879.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 110. 2010. University of Chicago Press . etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 111. 2010. University of Chicago Press . etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Wilson, R. Michael. Frontier Justice in the Wild West: Bungled, Bizarre, and Fascinating Executions. Globe Pequot. 106. 2010-11-01. 2007. 9780762743896.
- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058130/1896-12-16/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Patrick+Coughlin Salt Lake Herald December 16, 1896
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 112. 2010. University of Chicago Press . etal. 9780226202693.
- News: Peter Mortensen Must Die— Prisoner Stunned By News. Deseret News. 1. August 13, 1903. 2010-11-01.
- News: Martz. Maxine. Gilmore would be No. 45 on death list. Deseret News. 1. 2010-11-10. January 15, 1977.
- News: Hidden Rifles to Fulfill Execution Wish of Slayer. The Pittsburgh Press. United Press International. 55. 123. 2. October 27, 1938. February 8, 2011.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 113. 2010. University of Chicago Press . etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Pratt, Harmel L.. Reports of cases decided in the Supreme Court of the state of Utah, Vol. 42. A.L. Bancroft & Company. 48. 2010-11-01. 1914.
- Cutler. Christopher Q.. Nothing less than the Dignity of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions and Utah's Controversial Use of the Firing Squad. Cleveland State Law Review. 2010-11-10. 2002.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 116. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 117. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Gillespie, L. Kay. The Unforgiven: Utah's Executed Men. Signature Books. 100. 2010-11-01. 1997. 9781560850984.
- News: Firing Squad Kills Slayer. https://web.archive.org/web/20120111190843/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/361920992.html?dids=361920992:361920992&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+16%2C+1926&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=FIRING+SQUAD+KILLS+SLAYER. dead. January 11, 2012. Los Angeles Times. 6. 2010-11-10. January 16, 1926.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 118. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- Book: Gillespie. The Unforgiven. 105. 1997. 9781560850984.
- News: Utah Firing Squad Executes Slayer. The Evening Independent. Associated Press. 8. 2010-10-28. July 10, 1936.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 119. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- News: Murderer Killed By Firing Squad. The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. 5. 2010-11-10. July 31, 1942.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 120. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- News: Killer of Five Executed by Utah Firing Squad. The Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. 5. 2010-10-28. June 19, 1944.
- Book: Elder. Last Words of the Executed. 121. 2010. etal. 9780226202693.
- News: Utah Firing Squad Executes Slayer. The Pittsburgh Press. United Press International. 2. 2010-10-28. September 10, 1951.
- News: Condemned Killer Dies Before Utah Firing Squad. Oxnard Press-Courier. United Press International. 2. 2010-10-28. July 1, 1955.
- News: Benedict. Howard S.. Utah Executes Two Murderers. Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. 2. 2010-10-28. May 11, 1956.
- News: Utah Killers Face Firing Squad Today. The Lewiston Daily Sun. Associated Press. 20. 2010-10-28. May 11, 1956.
- News: Slayer Shot By Firing Squad. The Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. 3. 2010-10-28. March 31, 1960.
- News: Beecham. Bill. Convicted Killer Gets His Wish: Firing Squad Monday. The Telegraph (Nashua). Associated Press. 22. 2010-10-28. November 11, 1976.
- News: Grim Jokes Are Tossed Before Death. The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 19. 2010-10-29. March 31, 1960.