This list of people executed in New York gives the names of some of the people executed in New York, before and after statehood in the United States (including as New Amsterdam), and the person's date of execution, method of execution, and the name of the Governor of New York at the date of execution. 1963 marked the last execution in New York State. Some executions recorded during the 17th and 18th centuries do not indicate the name(s) of the executed and therefore are not included.
Regarding electrocutions, which comprise a large percentage of the executions:
- 55 people (54 men and 1 woman) were electrocuted at Auburn Correctional Facility
- 26 men were electrocuted at Clinton Correctional Facility
- 614 people (including 8 women) were electrocuted at Sing Sing
1600–1799
{| class="wikitable"
|----
!Name of the Convict
!Execution Date
!Method
!Charge
!Governor
|----
|Gregory Peterson
|5 August 1639
|Firing squad
|Unknown act of mutiny; soldier of the Fort Amsterdam garrison; first execution in New York (Manhattan)
|rowspan="2"|Willem Kieft
|----
|Jan Creoli
|25 June 1646
|Asphyxiation (and posthumous burning)
|Sodomy (charged with "Sodomy, buggery, and bestiality")
|----
|Jacob Leisler
|16 May 1691
|Hanging
|Treason after leading Leisler's Rebellion
|Henry Sloughter
|----
|25 people
|April 1712
|Hanging, burning, breaking upon a wheel
|New York Slave Revolt of 1712
|Robert Hunter
|----
|34 people (including John Ury)
|April 1741
|Hanging, burning
|New York Conspiracy of 1741
|George Clarke
|----
|Thomas Hickey
|28 June 1776
| rowspan="23" |Hanging
|Irish-born British soldier/deserter convicted of mutiny, sedition and treason against the patriots; he was the first person executed for treason against what would become the United States. He was jailed for passing counterfeit money, tried and executed for above-referenced charges.
| rowspan="3" |William Tryon
|-
|Nathan Hale
|22 September 1776
|Convicted of spying for General George Washington, from Connecticut. Last words reported to be "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country". A statue is in NYC's "City Hall Park".
|-
|Jacob Middagh
|12 May 1777
|Levying war against the state of New York
|-
|Seven "Tory criminals"
|5 June 1778
|Robbery
| rowspan="2" |James Robertson (colonial governor)/George Clinton (elected governor)
|----
|John André
|2 October 1780
|British spy who recruited Benedict Arnold; assisted in attempted surrender of West Point, New York
|----
|Stephen Grimes
|1785
|Robbery
|rowspan="18"|George Clinton
|----
|John Benson
|17 August 1797
|Murder of New York Deputy Sheriff Robert Berwick 1797
|}
1800–1899
{| class="wikitable"
|----
!Name of the convict
!Execution date
!Method
!Charge
!Governor
|----
|James McLean
|28 August 1807
|rowspan="5"|Hanging
|Murder of William Orr
|rowspan="10"|Daniel D. Tompkins
|----
|Alpheus Hitchcock
|11 September 1807
|Murder of his wife, Belinda (née Bailey) Hitchcock
|----
|Rufus Hill
|12 August 1808
|Murder of Mary Sisson
|----
|Thomas Qua
|12 August 1808
|Murder of his wife, Margaret Qua
|----
|James Dougherty
|6 August 1813
|Murder of John Wait
|----
|John Black, Mahlon Christie, Isaac Kent, and George Orcote
|4 June 1814 (other accounts indicate date was in the spring of 1812 or around New Year's Eve 1813)
|Shot
|Desertion
|----
|James Graham
|6 October 1815
|Murder of his wife, Ann Becker
|----
|James Hamilton
|6 November 1818
|Murder of U.S. Rifle Corps Major Benjamin Birdsall
|rowspan="4"|DeWitt Clinton
|----
|John Van Alstine (aka Van Alstyne)
|19 March 1819
|Murder of Schoharie County Deputy Sheriff William Huddleston
|----
|James "Coe" Teed
|16 April 1819
|Murder of his uncle, Richard Jennings, over property dispute. First "murder for hire" in New York state
|----
|David Dunning
|16 April 1819
|Murder of Richard Jennings
|----
|Abram (or Abraham) Antoine
|12 September 1823
|"[For] avenging the execution of his daughter Mary Antoine [q.v.] by murdering the man [John Jacobs] whose testimony hanged her."
|Joseph C. Yates
|----
|Peggy Facto
|18 March 1825
|Murder of her newborn daughter (possibly killed the child the year before). Co-defendant/lover Francis LaBarre acquitted.
|DeWitt Clinton
|----
|William Enoch
|12 January 1835
|Murder of his wife
|rowspan="2"|William L. Marcy
|----
|John Hallock
|2 July 1836
|Murder of a black woman
|----
|Edward Coleman
|12 January 1839
|Murder of his wife
|rowspan="2"|William H. Seward
|----
|Samuel Johnson
|6 July 1841
|Murder of his wife
|----
|Antoine Geisler
|7 June 1844 sometime between 1 and 2 PM
|Murder of Alexander Smith and his wife
|William C. Bouck
|----
|Andreas Hall
|15 March 1849
|Murder of Amy Smith (also responsible for two others, but sentenced only for Smith)
|Hamilton Fish
|----
|Aaron B. Stookey
|19 September 1851
|Murder of Edward Moore
|rowspan="2"|Washington Hunt
|----
|Otto Grunsig
|27 February 1852
|Murder of his wife, Victorine Grunsig
|----
|Nicholas Saul
|28 January 1853
|Murder of Charles Baxter
|rowspan="8"|Horatio Seymour
|----
|William Howlett
|28 January 1853
|Murder of Charles Baxter
|----
|Joseph Clark
|11 February 1853
|Murder of NYPD Policeman George T. Gillespie on 10 July 1851
|----
|"Black Chas"
|29 October 1853
|Murder of a washerwoman for her money
|----
|Patrick Fitzgerald
|15 November 1853
|Murder of his wife, Margaret Fitzgerald
|----
|James L. Hoare
|27 January 1854
|Murder of Susan McAnnany
|----
|John Hadcock
|15 December 1854
|Murder of James and Frances Wickham
|----
|John Dorsey
|17 July 1857
|Murder of Ann McGirr (a.k.a. Ann Hopkins)
|rowspan="2"|John A. King
|----
|James Rogers
|12 November 1858
|Murder of John Swanson
|----
|James Stephens
;
|March 23, 1860
|Murder (strangulation) of anonymous woman September 26, 1859 on Wayne County's old Montezuma Turnpike. The only person hanged in Wayne County.
|----
|John Crummins
|----
|Henry Gardner
|1 March 1867
|Murder of Amasa Mullock
|----
|George Wagner
|8 January 1869
|Murder of Abbey Elizabeth Sanders
|rowspan="8"|John Thompson Hoffman
|----
|Theodore Nicklas
|18 March 1870
|Murder of his uncle, Dr. Andrew Mead
|----
|John Reynolds
|----
|John Thomas
|10 March 1871
|Murder of Walter Johnson
|Murder of Thomas E. Burdick
|----
|Patrick Morrissey
|6 September 1872
|Murder of his mother. (The executioner was future President of the United States Grover Cleveland.)
|----
|John Gaffney
|14 February 1873
|Murder of Patrick Fahey. (The executioner was future President of the United States Grover Cleveland.)
|rowspan="5"|John Adams Dix
|----
|William Foster
|21 March 1873
|Murder of Avery D. Putnam
|----
|Henry Fralick (or Fralich)
|16 April 1873
|Murder of Henry (or Peter) Schaffer
|----
|Michael Nixon
|16 May 1873
|Murder of Charles Phifer
|----
|Hiram Smith
|4 December 1874
|Murder of Charles Wenham
|----
|William Thompson, William Ellis and Charles Weaver (a.k.a. Charles Weston)
|17 December 1875
|Murder of Abraham Weisberg
|rowspan="6"|Lucius Robinson
|----
|Samuel Steenburgh (black)
|19 April 1878
|Murder of Jacob S. Parker
|----
|Peter Bresnahan
|20 July 1878
|Murder of Michael Dalthen
|----
|William Merrick
|29 January 1879
|Murder of his wife, Julia A. Merrick
|----
|Felix McCann
|6 June 1879
|Murder of J. Morris Hatch
|----
|Myron A. Buell
|14 November 1879
|Murder of Catharine M. Richards
|----
|Chastine Cox
|16 July 1880
|Murder of Jane L. DeForest Hull
|23 May 1884
|Murder of his wife, Martha Clarke
|----
|William Menken
|10 April 1885
|Murder of his wife
|----
|Miguel Chacón
|9 July 1886
|Murder of Maria Williams
|----
|Roxalana "Roxana" Druse
|28 February 1887
|Murder of her husband William Druse; last woman to be hanged in the State of New York
|----
|Clement Arthur Day
|9 February 1888
|Murder of Johanna Rosa "Josie" Cross
|-
|Oscar Beckwith
|1 March 1888
|Murder of Simon Vandercook
|----
|Danny Lyons
|21 August 1888
|Murder of Joseph Quinn
|----
|Francis Asbury Hawkins, a.k.a. Ashbury Hawkins
|11 December 1888
|Murder of his mother, Cynthia A. Hawkins, on 1 October 1887
|----
|Virgil Jackson
|14 March 1889
|Murder of Norton Metcalf
|----
|John Greenwall (né Johann Theodore Wild)
|6 December 1889
|Murder of Lyman Smith Weeks; last known hanging in the State of New York
|----
|William Kemmler
|6 August 1890
|rowspan="13"|Electric chair
|Murder of Tillie Ziegler; first use of the electric chair in the world
|----
|Joseph Wood
|7 July 1891
|Murder of a fellow laborer
|----
|James Slocum
|7 July 1891
|Murder of his wife
|----
|Levy Smiler
|7 July 1891
|Murder of his mistress
|----
|Shibuya Jugiro
|7 July 1891
|Murder of one of his comrades
|----
|Joseph Wood
|2 August 1892
|Murder
|rowspan="2"|Roswell P. Flower
|----
|Carlyle Harris
|7 May 1893
|Murder of his wife, Helen Potts
|----
|Robert W. Buchanan
|1 July 1895
|Murder of his wife by poison
|rowspan="3"|Levi P. Morton
|----
|Bartholomew Shea
|11 February 1896
|Murder of election reformer Robert Ross
|----
|Carl Feigenbaum
|27 April 1896
|Murder of Juliana Hoffman, suspected to be Jack the Ripper
|-—-
|Giuseppe Constantino
|22 June 1897
|Murder of Pietro Galliotti
|rowspan="2"|Frank S. Black
|----
|Martin Thorn
|1 August 1898
|Murder and dismemberment of William Guldensuppe
|----
|Martha M. Place
|20 March 1899
|Murder of her stepdaughter, Ida Place; first woman in the world to be executed by use of the electric chair
|Theodore Roosevelt
|}
1900–1963
All people executed in New York in the 20th century were executed via the electric chair.
{| class="wikitable"
|----
!Name of the convict
!Execution date
!Charge
!Governor
|-
|Frank Vennerholm
|16 July 1901
|Murder of Emily Adolphson
| rowspan="10" |Benjamin Odell Jr.
|----
|Leon Czolgosz
|29 October 1901
|Murder of U.S. President William McKinley
|----
|James P. "Whitey" Sullivan
|24 March 1903
| rowspan="2" |Murder of Matthew Wilson during a bank robbery
|----
|William "Goat" Hinch
| rowspan="3" |1 October 1903
| rowspan="3" |Murder of their uncle, Peter Hallenbeck
|-
|Frederick van Wormer
|23 November 1903
|Murder of a woman whose husband was in debt with Gaimari
|-
|William H. Ennis (policeman)
|14 December 1903
|Murder of his wife
| rowspan="2" |20 July 1908
|Murders of Fred and Willis Onley, and Alice Ingerick
|----
|Angelo Laudiero
|Murder of Michael DeOmbro
|----
|Mary Farmer
|29 March 1909
|Murder of Sarah Brennan
|----
|Samuel Austin
| rowspan="2" |6 January 1911
| rowspan="2" |Murder-Robbery of George Phelps a rent collector Albany New York
|----
|Vincent Leonardo
|6 May 1912
|----
|Nicolo Consuli
|----
|Filippo DeMarco
| rowspan="7" |12 August 1912
|-
|Angelo Giusto
|Murder of police officer Michael Lynch
|----
|Joseph Ferrone
|12 February 1913
|Murder of Charles Leonard
|----
|William Twiman
| rowspan="4" |13 April 1914
| rowspan="4" |Murder; conspiracy to commit murder (of Herman "Beansie" Rosenthal)
| rowspan="2" |31 August 1914
|Murder of his wife, Elizabeth Coyer
|----
|Giuseppe DeGioia
|1 May 1916
|----
|Roy Champlain
| rowspan="2" |2 June 1916
|----
|Giovanni Supe
|30 June 1916
|----
|Bradford, Allen
|----
|Charles Kumrow
|21 April 1917
|----
|Antonio Impoluzzo
|----
|Joseph Mulholland
|10 April 1924
|----
|Reuben Norkin
|----
|John Emieleta
|17 September 1925
|Murder of Barron Wilkins
|----
|Emil Klatt
|28/29 January 1926
|Murder
|----
|Luigi Rapito
|28/29 January 1926
|Murder of Asa Kline
|----
|Ernest Mimms
|Murders of Nicholas Morello and Charles Ubriaco
|----
|Giuseppe Friia
|14 July 1927
|Murder of Peter Basto
|----
|Peter Heslin
|21 June 1928
|Murder of two police officers, Robert Roy and Arthur Rasmussen
|----
|Joseph Lefkowitz
| rowspan="2" |2 January 1930
| rowspan="3" |Murder-Robbery
|----
|Frank Kowalski
| rowspan="3" |Murder of Michael Malloy
|-
|Francis Pasqua
|Murder of Michael Malloy
|----
|John Smith
| rowspan="2" |6 February 1941
|----
|Norman Williams
|22 January 1942
|Murder
|----
|Thomas Conroy
|Murders of Helen and Margaret Lynch
|----
|Anibal Almodovar
| rowspan="3" |6 March 1947
| rowspan="3" |Murder-Robbery of Tony Marchisella
|-
|Eugene Koberski
|----
|Virgil Richardson
|21 March 1963
|Murder
|----
|Eddie Lee Mays
|15 August 1963
|Murder of Maria Marini in a robbery. This was the last execution in New York prior to the death penalty being declared unconstitutional in New York.
|}
As a result of several United States Supreme Court decisions, capital punishment was suspended in the United States from 1972 through 1976.
Since 24 June 2004, the New York State death penalty statute has been declared unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals.
See also
- Capital punishment in New York (state)
- Capital punishment in the United States
Notes
References
External links
- 1891: Four to save the electric chair (2011) Article from ExecutedToday.com
- Executions in State of New York, sorted by name from LeRoy Town, Genesse County, NYGenWeb Project