Capital punishment in Maryland
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
is a legal form of judicial punishment
in the U.S. state
of Maryland
. It has been in use in the state — or more precisely, its predecessor colony
— since June 20, 1638, when two men were hanged
for piracy
in St. Mary's County
. A total of 309 people were executed by a variety of methods from 1638 to June 9, 1961, the last execution before Furman v. Georgia
. Since that time, five people have been executed. Executions in Maryland are currently suspended as a result of a court case until the procedures used to perform the execution are approved using the process required by state law.
for desertion
, two slaves
hanged in chains
, and one female slave who was burned at the stake
. All hangings were performed in public in the county where the offence took place.
In 1809, the Maryland legislature enacted laws that provided for murder in varying degrees. The mandatory punishment for first-degree murder
was given as death. New laws came into force in 1908 which allowed the sentencing judge discretion, giving the option of life imprisonment
. Then in 1916, the jury was given the option of deciding if they wished to impose the death penalty during their deliberations. They could now return a sentence of guilty "without capital punishment."
This changed under new state laws in 1922, which required all hangings to be executed at the Maryland State Penitentiary. It was designed to get rid of "the curious mobs that frequent hangings taking place in the counties of this State, and who attempt to make public affairs of the same." 75 men were hanged on the Penitentiary gallows. Of these, 12 hangings were double hangings and on two occasions triple hangings took place. The first indoor hanging in the state, would come before this time though, with an execution on 3 January 1913 in the Baltimore City Jail, which only had invited guests present.
There is one known instance of a botched execution by hanging. On 30 January 1930, Jack Johnson stood on the trapdoor after being convicted of a double murder. But as he fell through, the rope snapped and he fell to the ground below. He was left badly injured and carried to the top of the gallows on a stretcher. There, a new rope was placed around his neck and he was hanged, supported by a stretcher.
The Maryland government decided in 1955 to change the method of execution to the use of lethal gas in the gas chamber
. A total of four men were executed in this fashion. The first was on 28 June 1957.
During the 20th century number of convicts were also executed for rape
.
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States
ruled that death penalty statutes were unconstitutionally arbitrary in their application, the Maryland legislature removed all arbitrariness by making death the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder once again. Such laws were found by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional in Woodson v. North Carolina. As such, the Maryland legislature took the route which the Supreme Court had found acceptable in Gregg v. Georgia
and introduced bifurcated trials, where the jury first decided guilt and then punishment, mandatory appellate review, and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Further laws changes in 1987 and 1989 excluded juveniles
and the mentally retarded
from execution.
The first person to be sentenced to death under Maryland's current statute was Richard Danny Tichnell, who was found guilty of murdering Garrett County Sheriff's Deputy David Livengood in 1979. Tichnell's sentence was overturned on appeal, as were two successive death sentences that prosecutors won against him. A fourth jury declined to impose the death penalty, and Tichnell died in 2006 of natural causes while serving a life sentence.
In 1994, the method was changed to lethal injection
for persons convicted after March 25, 1994. For person sentenced before 25 March 1994, the condemned is given the choice between the gas chamber and lethal injection. John Thanos
was put to death using lethal injection on 16 May 1994. This was the first execution by this method in the state, and was also the first execution in Maryland in over 30 years.
Governor Parris N. Glendening halted executions in Maryland by executive order on 9 May 2002, while a state-ordered University of Maryland, College Park
study of capital punishment was conducted. The study eventually concluded that there are racial and geographic disparities in the application of the death penalty in the state, but the subsequent governor, Robert Ehrlich
, ended the moratorium
and resumed executions in 2004.
in Evans v. Maryland ruled that state executions would be suspended because the manual that spells out the protocol for lethal injections was not adopted using the process required by the state Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The state APA requires state administrative agencies
to adopt regulation
s, which are defined as statements that have general application and are adopted by an agency to detail or carry out a law that the agency administers, using a process that includes a review by the Attorney General
, review by a legislative committee, and publication for public notice
and comment. The state's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services had adopted the manual without following any of these activities. The Court of Appeals noted that the procedures for execution in the manual were clearly regulations, and because they had not been properly adopted, they could not be used until they had been either adopted as required by the APA or the state law was changed. The ruling in Evans, while not significant from an administrative law
aspect as it was consistent with state case law, will prevent executions until the agreement is reached regarding both the need for the death penalty and in the method and procedure to be used to carry it out.
The Maryland General Assembly
in 2008 has established the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment to provide recommendations concerning the application and administration of capital punishment in the state so that they are free from bias and error and achieve fairness and accuracy. Following a series of public hearings, the Commission on November 12, 2008, voted 13-7 to recommend that the General Assembly repeal the capital punishment statutes as carries the real possibility of execution of innocent persons and may be biased against African Americans. The Commission submitted its final report, along with a minority report, to the General Assembly dated December 12, 2008 which "strongly recommends that capital punishment be abolished in Maryland."
defines murder in the first degree as:
The state's attorney in a case involving a capital punishment eligible crime must give the defendant notice at least thirty days prior to the trial that the death penalty will be sought and the aggravating circumstances that the state will present to the jury.
Under Criminal Law § 2-303, the sentence of death is imposed:
The lethal injection procedure used in Maryland consists of the anesthetic drug sodium pentothal
, followed by the paralytic drug pancuronium bromide
, which is also known as Pavulon, and lastly a drug which stops the heart, potassium chloride
. The execution is completed when, using an electrocardiogram
, a physician declares the convict to be dead.
Unlike most states, Maryland does not offer the condemned a special last meal
; instead the prisoner receives whatever food the general prison population is served the day of the convict's death.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
.
Lawrence Borchardt, who killed Joseph and Bernice Ohler on November 26, 1998, died in his prison cell on Maryland's death row in March 2007.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
is a legal form of judicial punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. It has been in use in the state — or more precisely, its predecessor colony
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
— since June 20, 1638, when two men were hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
for piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in St. Mary's County
Saint Mary's County, Maryland
Saint Mary's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland.As of 2010, the population was 105,151. Its county seat is Leonardtown...
. A total of 309 people were executed by a variety of methods from 1638 to June 9, 1961, the last execution before Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
. Since that time, five people have been executed. Executions in Maryland are currently suspended as a result of a court case until the procedures used to perform the execution are approved using the process required by state law.
History
Up until the second half the 20th century, most executions were by hanging. The exceptions were a soldier shotExecution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
for desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
, two slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
hanged in chains
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
, and one female slave who was burned at the stake
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
. All hangings were performed in public in the county where the offence took place.
In 1809, the Maryland legislature enacted laws that provided for murder in varying degrees. The mandatory punishment for first-degree murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
was given as death. New laws came into force in 1908 which allowed the sentencing judge discretion, giving the option of life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Then in 1916, the jury was given the option of deciding if they wished to impose the death penalty during their deliberations. They could now return a sentence of guilty "without capital punishment."
This changed under new state laws in 1922, which required all hangings to be executed at the Maryland State Penitentiary. It was designed to get rid of "the curious mobs that frequent hangings taking place in the counties of this State, and who attempt to make public affairs of the same." 75 men were hanged on the Penitentiary gallows. Of these, 12 hangings were double hangings and on two occasions triple hangings took place. The first indoor hanging in the state, would come before this time though, with an execution on 3 January 1913 in the Baltimore City Jail, which only had invited guests present.
There is one known instance of a botched execution by hanging. On 30 January 1930, Jack Johnson stood on the trapdoor after being convicted of a double murder. But as he fell through, the rope snapped and he fell to the ground below. He was left badly injured and carried to the top of the gallows on a stretcher. There, a new rope was placed around his neck and he was hanged, supported by a stretcher.
The Maryland government decided in 1955 to change the method of execution to the use of lethal gas in the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
. A total of four men were executed in this fashion. The first was on 28 June 1957.
During the 20th century number of convicts were also executed for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
.
Constitutional challenges
After the Furman v. GeorgiaFurman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
decision of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled that death penalty statutes were unconstitutionally arbitrary in their application, the Maryland legislature removed all arbitrariness by making death the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder once again. Such laws were found by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional in Woodson v. North Carolina. As such, the Maryland legislature took the route which the Supreme Court had found acceptable in Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 153 , reaffirmed the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States, upholding, in particular, the death sentence imposed on Troy Leon...
and introduced bifurcated trials, where the jury first decided guilt and then punishment, mandatory appellate review, and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Further laws changes in 1987 and 1989 excluded juveniles
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
and the mentally retarded
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
from execution.
The first person to be sentenced to death under Maryland's current statute was Richard Danny Tichnell, who was found guilty of murdering Garrett County Sheriff's Deputy David Livengood in 1979. Tichnell's sentence was overturned on appeal, as were two successive death sentences that prosecutors won against him. A fourth jury declined to impose the death penalty, and Tichnell died in 2006 of natural causes while serving a life sentence.
In 1994, the method was changed to lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
for persons convicted after March 25, 1994. For person sentenced before 25 March 1994, the condemned is given the choice between the gas chamber and lethal injection. John Thanos
John Thanos
John Frederick Thanos was convicted in 1992 of the 1990 murders of Billy Winebrenner, Gregory Allen Taylor, and Melody Pistorio. At his trial he taunted the families of his victims, saying he wished he could dig up their bodies and defile their corpses. "Their cries bring laughter from the darkest...
was put to death using lethal injection on 16 May 1994. This was the first execution by this method in the state, and was also the first execution in Maryland in over 30 years.
Governor Parris N. Glendening halted executions in Maryland by executive order on 9 May 2002, while a state-ordered University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
study of capital punishment was conducted. The study eventually concluded that there are racial and geographic disparities in the application of the death penalty in the state, but the subsequent governor, Robert Ehrlich
Robert Ehrlich
Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, he became governor after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of the Kennedy family, 51% to 48% in the 2002 elections...
, ended the moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
and resumed executions in 2004.
Administrative law challenge
In 2006, the Maryland Court of AppealsMaryland Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...
in Evans v. Maryland ruled that state executions would be suspended because the manual that spells out the protocol for lethal injections was not adopted using the process required by the state Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The state APA requires state administrative agencies
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
to adopt regulation
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
s, which are defined as statements that have general application and are adopted by an agency to detail or carry out a law that the agency administers, using a process that includes a review by the Attorney General
Attorney General of Maryland
The Attorney General of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits...
, review by a legislative committee, and publication for public notice
Public notice
Public notice is a notice given to the public regarding certain types of legal proceedings.-By government:Public notices are issued by a government agency or legislative body in certain rulemaking or lawmaking proceeding....
and comment. The state's Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services had adopted the manual without following any of these activities. The Court of Appeals noted that the procedures for execution in the manual were clearly regulations, and because they had not been properly adopted, they could not be used until they had been either adopted as required by the APA or the state law was changed. The ruling in Evans, while not significant from an administrative law
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
aspect as it was consistent with state case law, will prevent executions until the agreement is reached regarding both the need for the death penalty and in the method and procedure to be used to carry it out.
The Maryland General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
in 2008 has established the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment to provide recommendations concerning the application and administration of capital punishment in the state so that they are free from bias and error and achieve fairness and accuracy. Following a series of public hearings, the Commission on November 12, 2008, voted 13-7 to recommend that the General Assembly repeal the capital punishment statutes as carries the real possibility of execution of innocent persons and may be biased against African Americans. The Commission submitted its final report, along with a minority report, to the General Assembly dated December 12, 2008 which "strongly recommends that capital punishment be abolished in Maryland."
Current state law
Only first degree murder is a capital offense in the state of Maryland. Criminal Law § 2-201 of the Annotated Code of MarylandAnnotated Code of Maryland
The Annotated Code of Maryland, published by The Michie Company, is the official codification of the statutory laws of Maryland. It is organized, by subject matter, in two sets of volumes...
defines murder in the first degree as:
- A deliberate, premeditatedPremeditated murderPremeditated murder is the crime of wrongfully causing the death of another human being after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension.State laws in the United States vary as to definitions...
, and willful killing. - Committed by lying in wait.
- Committed by poisonPoisonIn the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
. - Committed in the perpetration of or an attempt to perpetrate arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, burglaryBurglaryBurglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, carjackingCarjackingCarjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
, escape from prisonPrison escapeA prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
, kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, mayhemMayhem (crime)Mayhem is a criminal offence consisting of the intentional maiming of another person.Under the common law of England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions, it originally consisted of the intentional and wanton removal of a body part that would handicap a person's ability to defend himself in...
, rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, robberyRobberyRobbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, sexual offense, sodomySodomySodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
, or bombBombA bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
-making. - If the offender willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation intended the death of a law enforcement officer.
The state's attorney in a case involving a capital punishment eligible crime must give the defendant notice at least thirty days prior to the trial that the death penalty will be sought and the aggravating circumstances that the state will present to the jury.
Under Criminal Law § 2-303, the sentence of death is imposed:
- "…by intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of an ultrashort-acting barbiturate or other similar drug in combination with a chemical paralytic agent."
The lethal injection procedure used in Maryland consists of the anesthetic drug sodium pentothal
Sodium thiopental
Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal , thiopental, thiopentone sodium, or Trapanal , is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anaesthetic...
, followed by the paralytic drug pancuronium bromide
Pancuronium
Pancuronium is a muscle relaxant with various purposes. It is the second of three drugs administered during most lethal injections in the United States.- Mode of action :...
, which is also known as Pavulon, and lastly a drug which stops the heart, potassium chloride
Potassium chloride
The chemical compound potassium chloride is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. In its pure state, it is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance, with a crystal structure that cleaves easily in three directions. Potassium chloride crystals are...
. The execution is completed when, using an electrocardiogram
Electrocardiogram
Electrocardiography is a transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the outer surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body...
, a physician declares the convict to be dead.
Unlike most states, Maryland does not offer the condemned a special last meal
Last meal
The last meal is a customary part of a condemned prisoner's last day. Often, the day of, or before, the appointed time of execution, the prisoner receives a last meal, as well as religious rites, if they desire. In the United States, inmates generally may not ask for an alcoholic drink...
; instead the prisoner receives whatever food the general prison population is served the day of the convict's death.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Post-Gregg executions
A total of 5 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Maryland since 1976. All were executed by lethal injectionLethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
.
| Executed person | Date of execution | Victim(s) | Under Governor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Frederick Thanos John Thanos John Frederick Thanos was convicted in 1992 of the 1990 murders of Billy Winebrenner, Gregory Allen Taylor, and Melody Pistorio. At his trial he taunted the families of his victims, saying he wished he could dig up their bodies and defile their corpses. "Their cries bring laughter from the darkest... |
May 16, 1994 | Billy Winebrenner, Gregory Allen Taylor, and Melody Pistorio | William Donald Schaefer William Donald Schaefer William Donald Schaefer was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. A Democrat, he was mayor of Baltimore from 1971 to 1987, the 58th Governor of Maryland from January 21, 1987 to January 18, 1995, and the Comptroller of... |
| 2 | Flint Gregory Hunt Flint Gregory Hunt Flint Gregory Hunt was a convicted murderer executed by the State of Maryland in 1997. Hunt shot Baltimore police officer Vincent Adolpho twice in an East Baltimore alley on November 18, 1985 after Adolpho spotted him running from a stolen Cadillac. He was captured five days later at a bus station... |
July 2, 1997 | Vincent Adolfo | Parris Glendening Parris Glendening Parris Nelson Glendening , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 59th Governor of Maryland from January 18, 1995 to January 15, 2003... |
| 3 | Tyrone Delano Gilliam, Jr. Tyrone Delano Gilliam, Jr. Tyrone Delano Gilliam was a convicted murderer executed by the State of Maryland in 1998. Gilliam was convicted and sentenced to die for the kidnapping and murder of 21-year old Christine J Doerfler on December 2, 1988.-The crime:... |
November 16, 1998 | Christine Doerfler | Parris Glendening Parris Glendening Parris Nelson Glendening , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 59th Governor of Maryland from January 18, 1995 to January 15, 2003... |
| 4 | Steven Howard Oken Steven Oken Steven Howard Oken was an American murderer who was executed in Maryland by lethal injection in 2004.-The crimes:On November 1, 1987, Steven Oken, then 25, murdered Dawn Marie Garvin... |
June 17, 2004 | Dawn Marie Garvin, Patricia Hirt, Lori Ward | Robert Ehrlich Robert Ehrlich Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, he became governor after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of the Kennedy family, 51% to 48% in the 2002 elections... |
| 5 | Wesley Eugene Baker Wesley Baker Wesley Eugene Baker was a convicted murderer executed by the U.S. state of Maryland. He was convicted for the June 6, 1991, murder of Jane Tyson in Catonsville. He was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m... |
December 5, 2005 | Jane Tyson | Robert Ehrlich Robert Ehrlich Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, he became governor after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of the Kennedy family, 51% to 48% in the 2002 elections... |
Current Death Row Inmates
5 men are currently sentenced to death in Maryland.| Inmate | Date of crime | Victim(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Booth-El | May 20, 1983 | Rose and Irvin Bronstein |
| 2 | Vernon Lee Evans Vernon Lee Evans Vernon Lee Evans is a Maryland death row inmate. In 1984, he was convicted and sentenced to death together with drug kingpin Anthony Grandison for the 1983 murders of Susan Kennedy and David Scott Piechowicz... |
April 28, 1983 | David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy |
| 3 | Anthony Grandison Anthony Grandison Anthony Grandison is an American drug dealer and murderer who is currently awaiting execution in Maryland. He was sentenced to death for ordering the killing of a pair of witnesses more than 25 years ago.... |
April 28, 1983 | David Scott Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy |
| 4 | Heath William Burch | March 19, 1995 | Robert and Cleo Davis |
| 5 | Jody Lee Miles | April 2, 1997 | Edward J. Atkinson |
Lawrence Borchardt, who killed Joseph and Bernice Ohler on November 26, 1998, died in his prison cell on Maryland's death row in March 2007.
External links
- Capital punishment in Maryland from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
- Executions in Maryland 1638–1961
- Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment