List of people executed in Virginia explained

This is a list of people executed in Virginia after 1976. The Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia, issued in 1976, allowed for the reinstitution of the death penalty in the United States. Capital punishment in Virginia was abolished by the Virginia General Assembly in 2021.^{[1] [2]}

List of people executed in Virginia

Between 1982 and 2017, a total of 113 people were executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. All were convicted of capital murder; all but one were male. Between 1982 and 1990, all executions were carried out at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. After the prison closed in 1991, all subsequent executions were carried out at Greensville Correctional Center.

	Name	Race	Age	Sex	Date of execution	County or Independent City	Method	Victim(s)	Governor
1		White	38	M	August 10, 1982	Newport News	Electrocution	Muriel Hatchell	Chuck Robb
2		Black	30	M	October 12, 1984	Richmond City		John Gallaher
3		Black	28	M	April 18, 1985			Judy Barton, Harvey Barton, and Harvey Wilkerson
4		Black	31	M	June 25, 1985	Northampton		Margaret Hand
5		Black	40	M	July 31, 1986	James City		Audrey Jean Weiler	Gerald Baliles
6		White	41	M	July 6, 1987	Fairfax		Phoebe Parsons
7		Black	33	M	April 14, 1988	Petersburg		Wilhemina Smith
8		Black	34	M	August 30, 1989	Lunenburg		Laverne Marshall
9		White	27	M	July 19, 1990	Portsmouth		Treeby Shaw	Douglas Wilder
10		Black	44	M	October 17, 1990	Alexandria City		Sheriff Deputy William Truesdale
11		White	37	M	December 13, 1990	Montgomery		Ida Mae Moses
12		White	31	M	July 24, 1991	Virginia Beach		Patricia Ann Bolton
13		Black	30	M	August 22, 1991	Hampton		Howard Kauffman
14		White	33	M	May 20, 1992	Buchanan		Wanda Fay McCoy
15		White	34	M	July 23, 1992	Chesterfield		Patricia Cubbage
16		Black	34	M	September 15, 1992	James City		Graham Adkins and Myra Adkins
17		White	33	M	December 10, 1992	Prince William		Su Cha Thomas
18		Black	39	M	January 19, 1993	Henrico		Franklin Cooley, Agnes Hicks, and Stephen Staples
19		Black	36	M	March 18, 1993	Williamsburg		5 murder victims
20		White	36	M	June 17, 1993	Chesapeake		Lisa Harrington
21		Black	31	M	September 14, 1993	Mecklenburg		William Ricketson
22		White	44	M	December 16, 1993	Virginia Beach		Wilma Harvey and Debra McInnis
23		Black	32	M	March 3, 1994			Betty Barker and Carl Buchanan	George Allen
24		Black	32	M	April 27, 1994			Susan Tucker, Debbie Davis and Susan Hellams
25		Black	32	M	January 24, 1995		Lethal injection	John Elliot
26		Black	49	M	May 26, 1995	Southampton		W. Jack Smith Jr.
27		White	54	M	September 27, 1995	Patrick		Kenneth Wayne Arnder
28		White	38	M	October 19, 1995	Smyth		Doris Davidson, Mamie Clatterbuck, and Tammy Clatterbuck
29		Black	31	M	November 13, 1995	Hampton		Clyde Jenkins and Mohammed Afifi
30		White	34	M	January 4, 1996	Franklin		Charles W. Bousman Jr.
31		Black	45	M	January 23, 1996	Virginia Beach		Virginia Goebel
32		White	37	M	July 17, 1996	Bedford		Thomas McWaters
33		Black	42	M	November 21, 1996	Chesterfield		Anne Keller Vaden
34		White	30	M	December 4, 1996	Prince George		State Trooper Leo Whitt
35		Black	33	M	December 10, 1996	Staunton		Jacqueline Kooshian
36		White	44	M	December 12, 1996	Smyth		Jessie Geneva Havens
37		White	39	M	December 16, 1996	Petersburg		Virginia Stell
38		White	39	M	February 6, 1997	Prince William		Alexander Sztanko
39		Black	39	M	February 26, 1997	Suffolk		Richard McClelland
40		White	50	M	July 17, 1997	Prince William		Manassas Police Officer John Conner
41		White	55	M	July 23, 1997	Virginia Beach		Helen Schartner
42		Black	35	M	August 19, 1997	Portsmouth		Cynthia Gray
43		Hispanic	25	M	September 17, 1997	Virginia Beach		James Radcliff
44		Black	44	M	November 13, 1997	Prince William		Gladys Nopwasky
45		Black	29	M	December 9, 1997	Arlington		Anne Borghesani
46		White	26	M	December 11, 1997	Hampton		Marguerite Lowery
47		Black	33	M	February 10, 1998	Prince William		Mary Elizabeth Dahn	Jim Gilmore
48		White	29	M	March 18, 1998	Amherst		4 murder victims
49		Black	35	M	March 25, 1998	Danville		William McCauley
50		Hispanic	32	M	April 14, 1998	Arlington		Ruth Dickie
51		White	41	M	June 18, 1998	Rockbridge		Virginia State Trooper Jerry Hines
52		White	47	M	July 23, 1998	Roanoke		Carolyn Horton Rogers
53		Black	25	M	August 20, 1998	Halifax		Billy Dix
54		Black	31	M	August 31, 1998	Portsmouth		Philip Council
55		White	44	M	September 23, 1998	Bedford	Electrocution	Cynthia Stewart and Jonathan Stewart
56		Black	26	M	October 14, 1998	Fairfax	Lethal injection	Saba Tekle
57		Black	29	M	October 21, 1998	Pittsylvania		Coy H. White and Hugh Morrison
58		Black	34	M	November 17, 1998	Newport News		Jacqueline Stephens
59		Black	29	M	December 3, 1998	Henrico		Anthony Brown
60		Black	27	M	January 20, 1999	Chesterfield		Richard Rosenbluth and Rebecca Rosenbluth
61		White	23	M	February 4, 1999			Leland A. Jacobs
62		White	37	M	March 9, 1999			Thomas L. Haynes
63		White	57	M	March 25, 1999	Bedford		David William Wilkey
64		Black	36	M	April 13, 1999	Prince William		Timothy Rigney
65		White	29	M	April 20, 1999	Warren		Floyd Jenkins and Lee H. Brinklow
66		White	26	M	April 28, 1999	Hanover and Richmond City		Ruth Parham and Sally Marie Fazio
67		White	38	M	April 29, 1999	Pittsylvania		Ruby Meeks Dodson
68		White	33	M	July 21, 1999	Augusta		Leann Whitlock
69		Black	26	M	August 17, 1999	Chesapeake		Helen Bedsole
70		White	51	M	September 16, 1999	Chesterfield		Charity Powers
71		Black	27	M	October 19, 1999	Portsmouth		Jeffrey Anderson
72		Black	32	M	November 9, 1999	Hampton		Hampton Police Officer Kenny Wallace
73		Black	29	M	December 9, 1999	Richmond City		Sheryl Stack
74		White	26	M	January 10, 2000	Middlesex		James B. Wiseman and Kathy J. Wiseman
75		White	23	M	January 13, 2000	Greene		Mary Ann Hughes
76		Black	27	M	March 16, 2000	Hampton		Virginia State Trooper Jose M. Cavazos
77		White	39	M	July 6, 2000	Virginia Beach	Electrocution	4 murder victims
78		White	32	M	August 30, 2000		Lethal injection	Katherine Tafelski and Ashley Tafelski
79		White	33	M	September 14, 2000	Norfolk		Sarah Wisnosky
80		Black	29	M	October 10, 2000	Fairfax		Mohammed Kayani
81		Black	27	M	December 6, 2000	Richmond City		5 murder victims
82		White	31	M	March 1, 2001	Franklin		Wesley Brant Smith
83		White	26	M	October 18, 2001	Arlington		Florence Marie Marks, David Kaplan, and William Miller
84		White	35	M	March 13, 2002	Prince George		Joyce Snead Aldridge	Mark Warner
85		White	33	M	April 2, 2002	Page		Christina Zirkle and Jessica Shiflett
86		Black	47	M	June 12, 2002	Newport News		Timothy Jason Hall
87		Asian	38	M	November 14, 2002	Fairfax		Frank Darling and Lansing Bennett
88		White	61	M	April 9, 2003	Roanoke	Electrocution	4 murder victims
89		White	27	M	July 22, 2003	Augusta	Lethal injection	Dawn McNees Snyder
90		White	30	M	March 18, 2004	Accomack		Tessa Van Hart
91		White	39	M	March 31, 2004	York		Richard Burnett
92		White	34	M	July 22, 2004	Hampton		Katherine Bailey and Nathan Bailey
93		White	56	M	August 18, 2004	Halifax		Stanley Cole, Walter Cole, and Patsy Cole
94		Black	58	M	September 9, 2004	Montgomery		Annie Mae Lester
95		Black	43	M	April 27, 2006	Halifax		Angela Felton	Tim Kaine
96		White	27	M	July 20, 2006	Appomattox	Electrocution	Lisa Yvonne Crider
97		White	42	M	July 27, 2006	Augusta	Lethal injection	Inmate Brent H. Parker
98		White	33	M	November 9, 2006	Chesterfield		Earl Shelton Dunning
99		Black	31	M	May 27, 2008	Brunswick		Patricia L. Vaughan
100		Black	30	M	June 25, 2008	Mecklenburg		Cyril Hugh Hamby
101		Black	26	M	July 10, 2008	Newport News		Beulah Mae Kaiser
102		White	36	M	July 24, 2008	Danville		John Fenton Langley
103		Black	44	M	February 19, 2009	Winchester		Winchester Police Officer Ricky Timbrook
104		Black	48	M	November 10, 2009^[3]	Prince William		Dean Harold Meyers
105		White	60	M	November 17, 2009		Electrocution	Dana Thrall and Robert Finch
106		White	31	M	March 18, 2010			Stacie Reed	Bob McDonnell
107		Black	37	M	May 20, 2010	Henrico	Lethal injection	Stanley Beale and Clarence Elwood Threat
108		White	41	F	September 23, 2010	Pittsylvania		Julian C. Lewis and Charles J. Lewis
109		Black	30	M	August 18, 2011	Williamsburg		Ruth Phillips
110		White	42	M	January 16, 2013	Wise	Electrocution	Harvey Gray Watson Jr. and Aaron Alexander Cooper
111		Hispanic	49	M	October 1, 2015	Fairfax	Lethal injection	Rachael A. Raver and Warren H. Fulton III	Terry McAuliffe
112		Black	39	M	January 18, 2017	Richmond City		4 murder victims
113		White	35	M	July 6, 2017	Montgomery		Sheriff Deputy Eric Sutphin and Derrick McFarland

Demographics

Race
White	57	50%
Black	52	46%
Hispanic	3	3%
Asian	1	1%
Age
20–29	26	23%
30–39	58	51%
40–49	20	18%
50–59	7	6%
60–69	2	2%
Sex
Male	112	99%
Female	1	1%
Date of execution
1976–1979	0	0%
1980–1989	8	7%
1990–1999	65	58%
2000–2009	32	28%
2010–2019	8	7%
2020–2021	0	0%
Method
Lethal injection	82	73%
Electrocution	31	27%
Governor (Party)
Mills Godwin (R)	0	0%
John N. Dalton (R)	0	0%
Chuck Robb (D)	4	4%
Gerald Baliles (D)	4	4%
Douglas Wilder (D)	14	12%
George Allen (R)	24	21%
Jim Gilmore (R)	37	33%
Mark Warner (D)	11	10%
Tim Kaine (D)	11	10%
Bob McDonnell (R)	5	4%
Terry McAuliffe (D)	3	3%
Ralph Northam (D)	0	0%
Total	113	100%

See also

• Capital punishment in the United States
• Capital punishment in Virginia
• Martinsville Seven

External links

• Innocence Case Drew Unprecedented International Support
• 113 people executed in Virginia since 1982

Notes and References

1. News: Schneider. Gregory S.. March 24, 2021. Virginia abolishes the death penalty, becoming the first Southern state to ban its use. The Washington Post. March 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210324190833if_/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-abolish-death-penalty/2021/03/24/8d6eda46-8bf6-11eb-9423-04079921c915_story.html. March 24, 2021.
2. News: Kelley. Alexandra. March 24, 2021. Virginia officially first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. The Hill. March 24, 2021.
3. News: D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad is executed in Va.. Josh White and Maria Glod. The Washington Post. 2009-11-10.