List of individuals executed in Nebraska

A total of 37 individuals have been executed in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

including 3 since 1976 as US Supreme Court allowed the resumption of executions. A total of 10 people are under a sentence of death

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...

in the state as of May 2009. On February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court

Nebraska Supreme Court

The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Each Justice is initially appointed by the Governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each Justice is then subject to a retention vote for additional...

declared electrocution "cruel and unusual punishment"; on May 28, 2009, the state legislature adopted lethal injection as its execution method.

Process

The jury

Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...

decides the sentence and may punish First Degree Murder as a Class I felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

or a Class IA felony. According to Nebraska law, Class I felonies mean death

Capital punishment

is the punishment and Class IA felonies mean 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...

without parole

Parole

Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...

is the punishment. Death sentences are automatically appealed to a three-judge panel. The Governor of Nebraska

Governor of Nebraska

The Governor of Nebraska holds the "supreme executive power" of the State of Nebraska as provided by the fourth article of the Nebraska Constitution. The current Governor is Dave Heineman, a Republican, who assumed office on January 20, 2005 upon the resignation of Mike Johanns . He won a full...

sits on the board that determines clemency. 31 people have been given clemency including 11 since 1976. First Degree Murder is the only Class I crime. Nebraska State Penitentiary

Nebraska State Penitentiary

The Nebraska State Penitentiary is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Lincoln, it is the oldest state correctional facility in Nebraska, opening in 1869...

is where executions in Nebraska have taken place since 1903. As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally challenged are constitutionally precluded from being executed.

Method

The sole method of execution in Nebraska is lethal injection.

Historically, hanging

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...

was the method Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

used up to the execution

Capital punishment

of Albert Prince. In 1913 after the execution of Albert Prince, a new law was passed requiring electric chair as the method of execution and outlawed hanging. Allison Cole was the first person executed by the electric chair

Electric chair

Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...

in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

. As of 2007, the electric chair was required as the method of execution. The most notorious electrocution ever carried out in the state of Nebraska is arguably that of murderer Charles Starkweather

Charles Starkweather

Charles Raymond Starkweather was an American teenaged spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming during a two-month road trip with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. The couple was captured on January 29, 1958...

, whose 1958 killing spree with his teenage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate

Caril Ann Fugate

Caril Ann Fugate was the adolescent girlfriend and accomplice of spree killer Charles Starkweather. She is the youngest female in United States history to have been tried for first-degree murder....

cemented his reputation as one of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

's most bloodthirsty spree killer

Spree killer

A spree killer is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on two or more victims in a short time in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders."-Definition:According to the...

s to ever be brought to justice.

On February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court declared in State v. Mata that electrocution constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Nebraska Constitution, effectively staying all death sentences in Nebraska. The state legislature approved the bill to change its method of execution to lethal injection; Gov. Dave Heineman signed the bill on May 28, 2009. Nebraska was the last state to adopt lethal injection as execution method.

Capital offenses

First Degree Murder
- First degree murder is killing another person by:
  - Murdering the person purposely and with deliberate and premeditated malice.
  - Murdering the person in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any sexual assault
    Sexual assault
    Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
    
    in the first degree, arson, robbery, kidnapping
    Kidnapping
    In 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...
    
    , hijacking
    Carjacking
    Carjacking 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,...
    
    of any public or private means of transportation, or burglary
    Burglary
    Burglary 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...
    
    .
  - Murdering the person by administering poison or causing the same to be done; or if by willful and corrupt perjury
    Perjury
    Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
    
    or subornation of the same he or she purposely procures the conviction and execution of any innocent person.

List of individuals executed in Nebraska before 1976

A total of 14 individuals have were executed 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 Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

from its statehood in 1867 when counties carried out executions until 1903 when the state took over executions.

	Executed person	Date of execution	Method	Crime
1	Samuel Richards	January 15, 1879	hanging 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...	murder
2	Orlando Cassler	May 20, 1879	hanging 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...	murder
3	Milton Smith	July 24, 1885	hanging 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...	murder
4	Jim Reynolds	May 21, 1886	hanging 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...	murder
5	Jackson Marion	March 25, 1887	hanging 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...	murder
6	David Hoffman	July 22, 1887	hanging 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...	murder
7	Ed Neil	January 9, 1891	hanging 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...	murder
8	Albert Haunstine	May 17, 1891	hanging 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...	murder
9	Christian Fuerst	June 5, 1891	hanging 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...	murder
10	Charles Sheppard	June 5, 1891	hanging 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...	murder
11	Clinton Dixon	June 24, 1892	hanging 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...	murder
12	Harry Hill	March 1, 1895	hanging 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...	murder
13	Claude Hoover	August 7, 1896	hanging 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...	murder
14	George Morgan	October 8, 1897	hanging 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...	murder

A total of 20 individuals were executed by the U.S. state

U.S. state

of Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

before the 1972 Supreme Court

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...

capital punishment ban.

	Executed person	Date of execution	Method	Crime
1	Gottlieb Neigenfiend	March 13, 1903	hanging 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...	murder
2	William Rhea	July 10, 1903	hanging 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...	murder
3	Harrison Clark	December 13, 1907	hanging 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...	murder
4	Frank Barker	January 17, 1908	hanging 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...	murder
5	R. Shumway	March 5, 1909	hanging 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...	murder
6	Bert Taylor	January 28, 1910	hanging 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...	murder
7	Thomas Johnson	May 19, 1911	hanging 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...	murder
8	Albert Prince	March 21, 1913	hanging 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...	murder
9	Allison Cole	December 20, 1920	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
10	Allen Grammer	December 20, 1920	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
11	James King	January 9, 1922	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
12	Walter Simmons	August 11, 1925	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
13	Henry Bartlett	April 29, 1927	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
14	Frank Carter Frank Carter Frank Carter was a notorious sniper murderer in Omaha, Nebraska. Tried for two murders, Carter claimed to have murdered forty-three victims. He was known as the Omaha Sniper, Phantom Sniper, and the Sniper Bandit.-Crimes:...	June 24, 1927	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
15	Frank Sharp	January 19, 1928	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
16	Henry Sherman	May 31, 1929	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
17	Joseph Macavoy	March 23, 1945	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
18	Timothy Iron Bear	December 1, 1948	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
19	Roland Sundahl Roland Sundahl Roland Dean Sundahl was an American murderer, electrocuted in Nebraska's electric chair for the abduction and murder of Bonnie Lou Merrill.- Background :...	April 30, 1952	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder
20	Charles Starkweather Charles Starkweather Charles Raymond Starkweather was an American teenaged spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming during a two-month road trip with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate. The couple was captured on January 29, 1958...	June 25, 1959	electric chair Electric chair Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...	murder

List of individuals executed in Nebraska after 1976

A total of 3 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the U.S. state

U.S. state

of Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

since 1976. All were executed by electric chair

Electric chair

. Nebraska was seeking an execution date for first use lethal injection since the elecric chair was declared unconstitutional in 2008. Finally, on April 21 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court set the first execution date for June 14, 2011 after more than 13 years. On May 26 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court stayed the execution due to due to objections that the sodium thiopental that Nebraska purchased from a Mumbai company fails to comply with U.S. pharmaceutical standards.

	Executed person	Date of execution	Victims	Under Governor
1	Harold Lamont "Wili" Otey Harold Lamont Otey Harold Lamont "Walkin' Wili" Otey was convicted of the murder of Jane McManus. Despite recanting his guilty plea and maintaining his innocence for more than 15 years, Otey became the first person to be executed in Nebraska since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated...	September 2, 1994	Jane McManus	Ben Nelson Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson is the senior U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000....
2	John Joubert	July 17, 1996	Danny Eberle and Christopher Walden	Ben Nelson Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson is the senior U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000....
3	Robert E. Williams	December 2, 1997	Catherine Brook, Patricia McGarry, Virginia Rowe	Ben Nelson Ben Nelson Earl Benjamin "Ben" Nelson is the senior U.S. Senator from Nebraska. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000....

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Process

Method

Capital offenses

List of individuals executed in Nebraska before 1976

List of individuals executed in Nebraska after 1976

Further reading

External links