A total of 85 people were executed under New Zealand's capital punishment system

Capital punishment in New Zealand

Capital punishment in New Zealand first appeared in a codified form when New Zealand became a British territory in 1840, and was first employed in 1842. It was last used in 1957, abolished for murder in 1961, and abolished altogether, including for treason, in 1989. During the period that it was in...

 while it was in force. An additional five people were executed under military regulations in World War I.

List of executed persons

#	Name	Executed	Details
1	Wiremu Kingi Maketu	7 Mar 1842, Auckland	First person to be judicially executed in New Zealand (although not the first person sentenced to death). Convicted of murdering the family for whom he was working as a farm-hand.
2	Joseph Burns	17 Jun 1848, Auckland	Convicted of murdering a naval officer Lt Snow and his family at Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and was a navy base from as far back as 1841...  in order to rob them.
3	Maroro	19 Apr 1849, Wellington	Convicted of murdering a man and his children in a fit of rage at a previous conviction for theft — he denied having any particular connection to his victims.
4	William Good	17 Jun 1850, Wellington	Convicted of murdering a seaman aboard the General Palmer, a merchant barque moored in Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour is the large natural harbour at the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. New Zealand's capital, Wellington, is on the western side of Wellington Harbour. The harbour was officially named Port Nicholson until it assumed its current name in the 1980s.In Māori the harbour is... .
5	William Bowden	27 Apr 1852, Auckland	Convicted of murdering a blacksmith, stabbing him with a knife during a fight.
6	Charles Marsden	12 Feb 1856, Auckland	Convicted of murdering a Māori woman of the Te Arawa Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas of New Zealand, with a population of around 40,000.The history of the Te Arawa people is inextricably linked to the Arawa canoe...  iwi. The incident caused significant tension between Te Arawa and the government, with some members of Te Arawa threatening to storm the prison and kill Marsden should the government not act against him.
7	John White	11 Jul 1856, Auckland	Convicted of murdering his partner, Ann Fay, with an axe. It is alleged that he was abusive towards her, and that he killed her when she refused to stay with him and threatened to reveal previous crimes he had committed. White denied the charge, and said that Fay was sought after by one of the witnesses against him, William Harris, and that Harris's mistress, Ann Scott (also a witness), killed Fay out of jealousy.
8	John Killey	18 Mar 1858, Auckland	Convicted of murdering a man in Whangarei Whangarei Whangarei, pronounced , is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District, administered by the Whangarei District Council a local body created in 1989 to administer both the...  after a drunken argument.
9	James Collins	30 Jan 1862, Wellington	A Colour-Sergeant convicted of murdering an officer who had constantly tried to bully him. The first person to be executed privately, rather than in public.
10	Teherei	10 Jul 1863, Picton
11	Richard Harper	2 Sep 1863, Auckland
12-13	Ruarangi	18 Apr 1864, Auckland	Convicted of murdering a woman and her daughter on a farm at Kaukapakapa Kaukapakapa Kaukapakapa is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated in the Rodney district and is around 50 kilometres northwest of Auckland. State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Helensville about 12 km to the south-west, and Araparera about 14 km to the north.... . Another daughter, who was present but survived, told the court that Ruarangi stated an intent to kill other pākehā Pakeha Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...  in the area, allegedly with the intent of sparking conflict, although the relationship between the settlers and local Māori was considered relatively good at the time.
	Nikotema Okeroa		Convicted of murdering Te Waiti, described as a Māori chief, in the Bay of Islands Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country.... . Okeroa was argued by some to be mentally incapable (Māori witnesses used the term porangi).
14	Alexander McLean	21 Oct 1864, Auckland	Convicted of murdering his wife with a gun. McLean argued that the firearm was discharged accidentally.
15	William Andrew Jarvey	24 Oct 1865, Dunedin	Convicted of poisoning his wife with strychnine Strychnine Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...  in order to marry his mistress.
16	John Jones	6 Apr 1866, Dunedin	Convicted of murdering a man at Waipori Lake Waipori Lake Waipori is the smaller and shallower of the pair of lakes located in the wetlands to the south west of Dunedin in New Zealand on the Waipori River. The Waipori River is a major tributary of the Taieri River, and these wetlands form the southern edge of the Taieri Plains.The lake is inhabited... . Jones was had been drinking heavily, and claimed that he had no recollection of the event.
17	James Stack	7 Apr 1866, Auckland	Convicted of murdering his mother-inlaw Mary Finniigan aged 55 and her three sons James 17, Benjamin 14 and John 12. .
18-22	Mokomoko	17 May 1866, Auckland	Convicted of killing Karl Völkner Carl Sylvius Völkner Carl Sylvius Völkner was a German-born Protestant missionary in New Zealand.He was born in Kassel, Hesse, Germany, probably in 1819. Völkner was one of several missionaries sent to New Zealand by the North German Missionary Society. He arrived in New Zealand in August 1849. In 1852 he offered... , a missionary who was believed by the Te Whakatohea Te Whakatohea Te Whakatōhea are a Māori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. The iwi comprises six hapu: Ngāi Tamahaua, Ngāti Ira, Ngāti Ngahere, Ngāti Patumoana, Ngāti Ruatakena and Te Ūpokorehe. In the 2006 Census, 12,072 people claimed an affiliation with Te Whakatōhea.The iwi is...  iwi to be a government spy. See Volkner Incident Volkner Incident The Völkner Incident describes the murder of the missionary Carl Sylvius Völkner in New Zealand in 1865 and the consequent reaction of the Government of New Zealand in the midst of the New Zealand land wars.-Background:... .
	Heremita Kahupaea
	Hakaraia Te Rahui
	Horomona Poropiti
	Mikaere Kirimangu
22-24	Richard Burgess Richard Burgess Richard S Burgess was a notorious murderer known for the "Maungatapu murders" which occurred on the Maungatapu track, south-east of Nelson, New Zealand....	5 Oct 1866, Nelson	The Maungatapu Murderers; convicted of murdering and robbing four people on the road from Nelson to the West Coast West Coast, New Zealand The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...  goldfields. A fourth man, Joseph Sullivan, was spared the death penalty for testifying against the others.
	Thomas Kelly
	William Levy
25	Robert Wilson	20 Dec 1867, Nelson
27	John Densely Swales	16 Apr 1868, Lyttelton
28	Whakamau	23 Mar, Wellington
29	Hamiora Pere Hamiora Pere Hamiora Pere was the only New Zealander ever to be executed for treason.- Background :Pere was a participant in the Te Kooti's War, one of the New Zealand land wars. When Te Kooti's forces were defeated at the siege of Ngatapa, in 1869, around 270 people were taken prisoner. Most were executed,...	16 Nov 1869, Wellington	Charged with treason, and the only person to be executed in New Zealand for a crime other than murder. A participant in Te Kooti's War Te Kooti's War Te Kooti's War was one of the New Zealand Wars, the series of conflicts fought between 1845 and 1872 between the Māori and the colonizing European settlers, often referred to as Pākehā. This particular conflict covered most of the East Cape region and the centre of the North Island of New Zealand... .
30	Anthony Noble	16 Feb 1871, Hokitika	Convicted of murdering a girl aged nine or ten in Hokitika. Noble eventually gave a confession in which he admitted to murdering and sexually assaulting the girl, although he denied raping her. Noble was originally from Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...  (newspapers described him as "coloured Colored Colored is a term once widely used in the United States to describe black people and Native Americans... " — his father was African American African American African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...  and his mother was Spanish), and he was working in Hokitika as a casual labourer.
31	Simon Cedeno	5 Apr 1871, Lyttelton	A butler to William Robinson, a wealthy land-owner and a member of the Legislative Council New Zealand Legislative Council The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.-Role:... . Convicted of murdering a maid of the household, apparently after suffering racist insults. Cedeno was from Central America, and was black.
32	Kereopa Te Rau Kereopa te Rau Kereopa Te Rau was a Māori Warrior. The name Kereopa is the Māori pronunciation of the Biblical name Cleopas. He was also nicknamed Kai whatu, the eye ball eater...	5 Jan 1872, Napier	A leader of the Pai Marire Pai Marire The Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion that flourished in New Zealand from about 1863 to 1874. Founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumene, it incorporated Biblical and Māori spiritual elements and promised its followers deliverance from Pākehā domination, providing a...  religious movement convicted of involvement in the Volkner Incident Volkner Incident The Völkner Incident describes the murder of the missionary Carl Sylvius Völkner in New Zealand in 1865 and the consequent reaction of the Government of New Zealand in the midst of the New Zealand land wars.-Background:...  (five others already having been executed — see above).
33	Joseph Eppwright	29 Jul 1873, Auckland	An American sailor convicted of murdering a man named Thomas Garrity while in port at Russell Russell, New Zealand Russell, formerly known as Kororareka, was the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. As at the 2006 census it had a resident population of 816, an increase of 12 from 2001... . "EPPWRIGHT, a constable, who stabbed another constable, was hanged at Auckland on 29 July. He made a speech exculpating Fisher, stating that he stabbed GARITY in the heat of a quarrel without intent to kill him. He denied that he had ever been in gaol before. After the cap was fitted the drop was knocked off but only 6 inches and efforts to pull it down proved ineffectual. The culprit was then taken off, the drop was readjusted and the second time it fell clear, causing instantaneous death."
34	Charles Dyer	30 Oct 1874, Auckland	Convicted of murdering his mistress by dousing her in kerosene and then setting her alight.
35	Nutana	19 Feb 1875, Auckland
36	John Robinson Mercer	7 May 1875, Lyttelton	A ship's cook convicted of raping and murdering a young girl while in port at Lyttelton Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.... .
37	William Henry Woodgate	25 Jan 1877, Picton	William Henry Woodgate was born at Beer, Devon, UK, in 1827 and was baptised on 1 January 1828. In the 1841 Census, he was living at Signal House, Beer, with his parents Robert & Elizabeth Woodgate and his younger siblings. Willam who married Margaret (Mary Ann) Heberley in 1863 was accused and found guilty at the Supreme Court sitting of murder of the newborn baby of his Niece Susan Woodgate who was the daughter of his brother Robert. He was thought to be the father of the child.
38	Martin Curtain	6 Feb 1877, Auckland
39	Te Mohi	23 May 1877, Auckland
40	James Walsh	19 Feb 1879, Invercargill
41	Ah Lee	5 Nov 1880, Dunedin	Convicted of murdering Mary Young at the Kyeburn gold diggings Central Otago Gold Rush The Central Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand...  near Naseby Naseby, New Zealand Naseby is a small town, formerly a borough, in the Maniototo area of Central Otago, New Zealand. It is named after a village in Northamptonshire, England....  in order to rob her home. Although he is alleged to have confessed the crime to police, he denied it in court and at the gallows, and his conviction was the subject of considerable public debate.
42	Tuhiata	29 Dec 1880, Wellington	Convicted of murdering Mary Dobie on the road to Te Namu Bay, near Opunake Opunake Opunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highway 45 passes through the town.The population was 1368 in the... .
43	Wiremu Hiroki	8 Jun 1882, New Plymouth	Convicted of murdering John McLean, a member of a government surveying party operating in the area east of Waverley Waverley, New Zealand Waverley is a small town located in the South Taranaki District in New Zealand. It is 44 km northwest of Wanganui. Patea is 17 km to the west, and Waitotara is 10 km to the southeast... . He is alleged to have acted out of belief that McLean had been killing his pigs.
44	Taurangaka Winiata	4 Aug 1882, Auckland
45	John Donohue	11 June 1884, Hokitika
46	Rowland Herbert Edwards	15 Jul 1884, Napier
47-48	John Caffrey	21 Feb 1887, Auckland	Convicted of murdering Robert Taylor of Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island is a large island of New Zealand, situated to the north-east of central Auckland in the outer Hauraki Gulf. With an area of it is the fourth-largest island of New Zealand's main chain of islands, with its highest point, Mount Hobson, rising... , father of Caffrey's one-time fiancée, Elizabeth Anne Taylor. The intent was to abduct Elizabeth, but they came to believe that they had been detected, and decided to flee to Valparaíso Valparaíso Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...  in a vessel stolen from Caffrey's employers. They were forced to turn back by a storm, and managed to hide for a time in Australia before being returned to New Zealand. A third person Grace Cleary, accompanied the two, and was charged as an accessory Accessory (legal term) An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal... .
	Henry Penn
49	Haira Te Piri	13 May 1889, Napier
50	Makoare Wata	28 Sep 1889, Napier
51	Alexander James Scott	22 May 1892, Auckland	A resident of Waikumete (then spelled Waikomiti, and usually considered part of Glen Eden Glen Eden, New Zealand Glen Eden is a suburb of Auckland city, in New Zealand. The suburb is in the Waitakere Ward, one of the thirteen administrative areas of Auckland and is governed by the Auckland Council....  today) who was convicted of poisoning his neighbour, allegedly in order to more easily continue a claimed relationship with the victim's wife. Scott claimed that the deceased had committed suicide, and that he had previously spoken of doing so.
52	Minnie Dean Minnie Dean Williamina "Minnie" Dean was a New Zealander who was found guilty of infanticide and hanged. She was the only woman to receive the death penalty in New Zealand....	12 Aug 1895, Invercargill	The only woman to be executed in New Zealand. A "baby-farmer Baby-farming Baby farming was a term used in late-Victorian Era Britain to mean the taking in of an infant or child for payment; if the infant was young, this usually included wet-nursing . Some baby farmers "adopted" children for lump-sum payments, while others cared for infants for periodic payments... " convicted of killing children in her care.
53	Etienne Brocher (aka Stephen Bosher)	21 Apr 1897, Wellington	Convicted of the double murder of his neighbours. Brocher entered into their house and stabbed them to death during a robbery in Petone, Lower Hutt.
54	William Sheehan	21 Jul 1897, Lyttelton
55	Frank Philpott	23 Mar 1898, Wellington	Convicted of murdering a rival for the affection of a woman.
56	Charles Clements	12 Apr 1898, Dunedin
57	Enoka	2 May 1898, New Plymouth	Convicted of murdering his wife.
58	Alexander McLean	31 Aug 1901, Lyttelton	Convicted of murdering a woman and her two children in Eyreton Eyreton Eyreton, originally known as Eyretown, is a small village in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after Edward John Eyre, who at one time was the lieutenant governor of the South Island... . McLean was the family's manservant, and is alleged to have killed them in order to rob the house.
59	James Ellis	28 Feb 1905, Wellington	Convicted of murdering Len Collinson, who worked clearing bush at Te Awaite, in southern Wairarapa Wairarapa Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest... . Ellis had been accused of minor criminal acts in the area, and Collinson had attempted to drive Ellis away from the work camp — it was reported that Collinson was aware of Ellis's previous conviction for rape.
60	Tahi Kaka	21 Jun 1911, Auckland	Convicted of murdering John Freeman, a gum-digger in Northland, while robbing him. Kaka's execution gave rise to controversy because of his youth.
61	Alfred Mortram Biddle	13 Dec 1913, Lyttelton	A blacksmith from Mayfield Mayfield, New Zealand Mayfield is a small farming settlement in Mid Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island. It is located 35 km from Ashburton on former State Highway 72 at the intersection of the Lismore-Mayfield Road towards the top of the Canterbury Plains. The village has a shop, garage, tavern, local transport...  who was convicted of murdering the wife of a man who had hired him. Biddle stated that he did not know why he committed the crime, and denied suggestions that he had sexual motivations. He apparently attempted to commit suicide by poison while hiding from police.
62	Arthur Rottman	18 Mar 1915, Wellington	Convicted of murdering Joseph and Mary McCann, who employed him on their farm, with an axe.
63	Frank Edward Bennier	19 Jan 1918, Wellington	Convicted of murdering his wife, Ethel Emma Bennier, when she decided to leave him.
64	Frederick William Eggers	5 Mar 1918, Lyttelton	Convicted of murdering John Coulthard (and attempting to murder two others) in the course of holding up a vehicle transporting miners' wages in Runanga Runanga, New Zealand Runanga is a small town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located ten kilometres to the northwest of Greymouth, to the north of the Grey River. Barrytown is 21 kilometres further north... .
65	Dennis Gunn	22 Jun 1920, Auckland	Convicted of shooting Augustus Edward Braithwaite, the postmaster of Ponsonby Ponsonby, New Zealand Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland City located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north-south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road.... , to obtain the keys to the local post office which he later robbed. The first person executed in New Zealand based on fingerprint evidence.
66	Samuel John Thorne	20 Dec 1920, Auckland	Convicted of shooting Sydney Seymour Eyre, near Pukekohe Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe... . He was alleged to be in some form of relationship with Eyre's wife (who was said by prosecutors to be unwilling).
67	Hakaraia Te Kahu	10 Oct 1921, Auckland
68	John Tuhi	19 Apr 1923, Wellington
69	Daniel Cooper	16 Jun 1923, Wellington	A "baby-farmer Baby-farming Baby farming was a term used in late-Victorian Era Britain to mean the taking in of an infant or child for payment; if the infant was young, this usually included wet-nursing . Some baby farmers "adopted" children for lump-sum payments, while others cared for infants for periodic payments... "at Newlands Newlands, New Zealand Newlands is one of the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. It lies approximately 8km north of the city centre and to the east of its nearest neighbour Johnsonville. Newlands is located in a valley and covers two ridgelines, the side of one of which overlooks Wellington Harbour and up to...  near Wellington, convicted of killing children in his care (his wife was found "not guilty").
70	Robert Herbert Scott	17 Apr 1924, Auckland
71	Arthur Thomas Munn	29 Jul 1930, Auckland	A Northcote Northcote, New Zealand Northcote is a suburb of North Shore City, one of several cities in the Auckland metropolitan area in northern New Zealand. It is located on the north shore of the Waitemata Harbour, four kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre....  man convicted of poisoning his wife Lillie in order to inherit her property and marry his mistress.
72	George Coats	17 Dec 1931, Wellington	A worker on the Mount Victoria Tunnel Mount Victoria Tunnel The Mount Victoria Tunnel in the New Zealand capital city of Wellington is 623 metres long and 5 metres in height, connecting Hataitai to the centre of Wellington and the suburb of Mount Victoria, under the mount of the same name...  excavations, convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and hiding her body on the site.
73	Edward Tarrant	6 Mar 1933, Wellington
74	John Hubert Edwards	11 Dec 1933, Auckland
75	George Edward James	15 Dec 1933, Wellington
76	Bill Bayly	20 Jul 1934, Auckland	A farmer convicted of murdering his neighbours, and suspected of earlier murdering his cousin.
77	Charles William Price	27 Jun 1935, Wellington	Allegedly an alcoholic, convicted of murdering his mistress in a field near Napier. Allegedly for a small sum of money, after an all day drinking session
Capital punishment abolished for ordinary crimes from 1935 to 1950
78	William Geovanni Silveo Fiori	13 Mar 1952, Auckland
79	Eruera Te Rongapatahi	14 Sep 1953, Auckland	Convicted of murdering James Henderson, a taxi driver, at Mt. Somers Township on June 1953.
80	Harry Whiteland	21 Dec 1953, Auckland	Convicted of murdering 19 year old Dorothy Rose Haldane, a Railways booking clerk at Reefton Railway Station on 27 August 1953.
81	Frederick Foster	7 Jul 1955, Auckland	Convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend at a milk bar Milk bar Milk bar is a term in some parts of Australia for suburban local shops or general stores. They are known as tuck shops, delicatessens or delis in South Australia and Western Australia, and as corner stores in Queensland and New South Wales...  on Queen Street Queen Street, Auckland Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a... .
82	Edward Te Whiu	18 Aug 1955, Auckland	Convicted of murdering an elderly woman who discovered him during a burglary.
83	Harvey Allwood	13 Oct 1955, Auckland	Convicted of murdering John Hughes of Makarewa Makarewa Makarewa is a small community north of Invercargill .Facilities include a primary school with a roll of about 130 children, two abandoned dairies, meeting rooms for clubs, a playcentre, country club, squash courts, lawn bowling club, and an indoor swimming pool on the school grounds.Alliance Group... .
84	Albert Laurence Black	5 Dec 1955, Auckland	Convicted of murdering Alan Keith Jacques at a cafe on Queen St. Auckland on 26 July 1955.
85	Walter James Bolton Walter James Bolton Walter James Bolton was a New Zealand farmer who was found guilty of poisoning his wife. He is known as the last person to be executed in New Zealand before the abolition of capital punishment....	18 Feb 1957, Auckland	Last person judicially executed before the abolition of capital punishment in New Zealand. Found guilty of poisoning his wife.
Capital punishment abolished for ordinary crimes in 1961, abolished for all crimes in 1989

Military executions

In addition to those executed under New Zealand's regular criminal justice system, five New Zealand soldiers fighting as part of the Allied war effort in World War I were court martialed and executed.

#	Name	Executed	Details
1	Frank Hughes	25 Aug 1916	Convicted of desertion.
2	John Sweeney	2 Oct 1916	Convicted of desertion.
3	John Braithwaite	29 Oct 1916	Convicted of mutiny. After first being incarcerated for repeatedly being away without leave, he was accused of instigating a prison riot, although he claimed that he only involved himself in an attempt to calm it.
4	John King	19 Aug 1917	Convicted of desertion.
5	Victor Spencer Victor Spencer Victor Manson Spencer was a volunteer from Invercargill, New Zealand who fought in the Otago Regiment of the New Zealand Division in World War I. Victor was executed for desertion in February 1918, despite later suggestions that he was severely traumatised by shellshock, having fought and survived...	24 Feb 1918	Convicted of desertion.

The executions, carried out by firing squad, were not made public at the time. All five were pardoned in 2000 when Parliament concluded that their conviction had been unjust, and that today, all would be regarded as mentally unfit to serve. Two (King and Sweeney) were born in Australia.

Number of executions by location

Initially, executions were carried out in public, and could be conducted at any suitable location — in at least one case (Joseph Burns, 1848) the prisoner was taken to the scene of the crime for execution. Executions from 1862 were carried out in private. Later, the number of locations was reduced to only two — Auckland (generally Mount Eden Prison) and Wellington (generally Mount Crawford Prison). In total, ten cities were the sites of executions.

Location	Number of executions
Auckland Auckland The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...	41
Wellington Wellington Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...	17
Lyttelton Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....	7
Dunedin Dunedin Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...	4
Napier Napier, New Zealand Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...	4
Nelson Nelson, New Zealand Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....	4
Hokitika	2
Invercargill Invercargill Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...	2
New Plymouth New Plymouth New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....	2
Picton Picton, New Zealand Picton is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It is close to the head of Queen Charlotte Sound near the north-east corner of the South Island. The population was 2928 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 72 from 2001...	2
Europe (in World War I)	5

External links

• New Zealand History Online - List of executions
• Helen's Page of New Zealand History - Executed in New Zealand
• The execution of the Maungatapu Murderers
• The murder of Mary Dobie by Tutiaha in 1880
• Murders on Crime.co