Capital punishment in Nebraska

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A total of 37 individuals have been executed in Nebraska including 3 since 1976 as US Supreme Court allowed the resumption of executions. A total of 10 people are under a sentence of death in the state as of May 2009. On February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court declared electrocution "cruel and unusual punishment"; on May 28, 2009, the state legislature adopted lethal injection as its execution method.

Contents

Process [edit]

The jury decides the sentence and may punish First Degree Murder as a Class I felony or a Class IA felony. According to Nebraska law, Class I felonies mean death is the punishment and Class IA felonies mean life imprisonment without parole is the punishment. Death sentences are automatically appealed to a three-judge panel. The Governor of Nebraska 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 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 [1] or mentally challenged[2] are constitutionally precluded from being executed.

Method [edit]

The sole method of execution in Nebraska is lethal injection.[3]

Historically, hanging was the method Nebraska used up to the execution 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 in Nebraska.[4] As of 2007, the electric chair was required as the method of execution. The most famous electrocution ever carried out in the state of Nebraska is arguably that of murderer Charles Starkweather, whose 1958 killing spree with his teenage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate cemented his reputation as one of America's most bloodthirsty spree killers 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.[5] 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.[6]

Capital offenses [edit]

  • 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 in the first degree, arson, robbery, kidnapping, hijacking of any public or private means of transportation, or burglary.
      • Murdering the person by administering poison or causing the same to be done; or if by willful and corrupt perjury 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 [edit]

A total of 14 individuals have were executed in the U.S. state of Nebraska 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 Victims Under Governor
1 Samuel Richards January 15, 1879 hanging murder Peter Anderson Albinus Nance
2 Orlando Caslar May 20, 1879 hanging murder George L. Monroe Albinus Nance
3 Milton W.Smith July 24, 1885 hanging murder his wife James W. Dawes
4 Jim Reynolds May 21, 1886 hanging murder James and Johnnie Pinkston James W. Dawes
5 William Jackson Marion [1] March 25, 1887 hanging murder James Cameron John Milton Thayer
6 David Hoffman July 22, 1887 hanging murder John Milton Thayer
7 Ed Neil January 9, 1891 hanging murder Allan and Dorothy Jones John Milton Thayer
8 Albert Haunstine May 17, 1891 hanging murder John Milton Thayer
9 Christian Fuerst [2] June 5, 1891 hanging murder Carlos Pulsipher John Milton Thayer
10 Charles Shepard [2] June 5, 1891 hanging murder Carlos Pulsipher John Milton Thayer
11 Clinton Dixon June 24, 1892 hanging murder Corporal John Carter James E. Boyd
12 Harry Hill March 1, 1895 hanging murder Matthew Akeson Silas A. Holcomb
13 Claude Hoover August 7, 1896 hanging murder Samual Dubois Silas A. Holcomb
14 George Morgan October 8, 1897 hanging murder Ida Gaskill Silas A. Holcomb

[1] William Jackson Marion was convicted and executed for the murder of John Cameron. However, Cameron turned up alive in 1891. Marion received a posthumous pardon by Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey on the 100th anniversary of his execution.

[2] Although Christian Fuerst and Charles Shepard are listed at 9 and 10, they were both hanged together simultaneously in the only double hanging in Nebraska's history.


A total of 20 individuals were executed by the U.S. state of Nebraska before the 1972 Supreme Court capital punishment ban.

Executed person Date of execution Method Crime Victims Under Governor
1 Gottlieb Neigenfiend March 13, 1903 hanging murder Anna Bryer and Albert Bryer (ex-wife and ex-father in law) John H. Mickey
2 William Rhea July 10, 1903 hanging murder John H. Mickey
3 Harrison Clark December 13, 1907 hanging murder street car conductor George L. Sheldon
4 Frank Barker January 17, 1908 hanging murder his brother and brother's wife George L. Sheldon
5 Robert Shumway March 5, 1909 hanging murder Sarah Martin Ashton C. Shallenberger
6 Bert Taylor January 28, 1910 hanging murder Pearl Taylor (sister in law) Ashton C. Shallenberger
7 Thomas Johnson May 19, 1911 hanging murder Chester H. Aldrich
8 Albert Prince March 21, 1913 hanging murder Nebraska State Penitentiary Deputy Warden Edward D.Davis John H. Morehead
9 Allen Grammer [1] December 20, 1920 electric chair murder Lulu Vogt (Grammer's mother in law) Samuel R. McKelvie
10 Alson Cole [1] December 20, 1920 electric chair murder Lulu Vogt (Allen Grammer's mother in law) Samuel R. McKelvie
11 James King June 9, 1922 electric chair murder Nebraska State Penitentiary prison guard Samuel R. McKelvie
12 Walter Simmons August 11, 1925 electric chair murder Frank Pahl Adam McMullen
13 Henry Bartlett April 29, 1927 electric chair murder Asa Ranson (Minden, Nebraska Police Chief) Adam McMullen
14 Frank Carter June 24, 1927 electric chair murder William McDevitt and Dr. A.D. Searles Adam McMullen
15 Frank Sharp January 19, 1928 electric chair murder Hariet Sharp (his wife) Adam McMullen
16 Henry Sherman May 31, 1929 electric chair murder Roger and Hattie Pochon, Eugenie Pochon Arthur J. Weaver
17 Joseph MacAvoy March 23, 1945 electric chair murder Anna Milroy Dwight Griswold
18 Timothy Iron Bear December 1, 1948 electric chair murder Mr and Mrs JW Stollar Val Peterson
19 Roland Sundahl April 30, 1952 electric chair murder Bonnie Lou Merrill Val Peterson
20 Charles Starkweather [2] June 25, 1959 electric chair murder Robert Jensen Ralph G. Brooks

[1] Allen Grammer and Alson Cole were the first men electrocuted, and the only double electrocution in Nebraska. Allen Grammer was the first man to be electrocuted by the State of Nebraska, pronounced dead at 3:24 pm. Alson Cole was pronounced dead at 3:37 pm.

[2] Although Charles Starkweather murdered 10 people in Nebraska (and one in Wyoming), he was tried, convicted, and executed for only one murder, that of 17 year old Robert Jensen.

List of individuals executed in Nebraska after 1976 [edit]

A total of 3 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the U.S. state of Nebraska since 1976. All were executed by electric chair. Nebraska was seeking an execution date for first use lethal injection since the electric 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 September 2, 1994 Jane McManus Ben Nelson
2 John Joubert [1] July 17, 1996 Danny Eberle and Christopher Walden Ben Nelson
3 Robert E. Williams[7][8] [2] December 2, 1997 Catherine Brooks and Patricia McGarry Ben Nelson

[1] John Joubert was also tried and convicted of murdering Ricky Stetson in Portland, Maine. He received a life sentence in Maine.

[2] Robert E. Williams also murdered Virginia Rowe of Sioux Rapids, Iowa

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
  2. ^ Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
  3. ^ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution
  4. ^ http://www.corrections.state.ne.us/policies/files/DeathRowHistory2-3-07.pdf
  5. ^ http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/opinions/2008/february/feb8/s05-1268.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.fremonttribune.com/articles/2009/05/29/ap-state-ne/d98fk5do1.txt
  7. ^ Inmate Details: 31861 -- Robert Williams. Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  8. ^ Matthew Waite. Williams marks state's third electrocution. Daily Nebraskan (1997-12-03). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.

Further reading [edit]

  • Baldus, D.C. et al. (2001). The disposition of Nebraska capital and non-capital homicide cases (1973-1999): a legal and empirical analysis. Lincoln, Neb.: Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.

External links [edit]
In depth
Lists of individuals executed
Other
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