Capital punishment in South Dakota

Capital punishment is legal in the U.S. state of South Dakota.

Current development

South Dakota Legislature passed a new death penalty statute, which went to effect due to signature of Governor Bill Janklow (first act he signed in office) on January 1, 1979.

Crimes punishable by death

First-degree murder with 1 of 10 aggravating circumstances is the only capital crime in South Dakota. In 2006 possible death sentence for aggravated kidnapping was eliminated.

Sentencing, death row, and clemency

Death sentence is to be determined by jury and Life Without Parole is an option.

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.

Currently three men are awaiting execution on death row (as of November 2012), located in Sioux Falls.

Governor may grant commutation of death sentence with a non-binding recommendation from the Board. As of 2008 no commutation was granted.

Method of execution

Lethal injection is the sole method of execution in South Dakota.

Individuals executed by the State of South Dakota since 1976

As of October 2012, only three people have been executed by the State of South Dakota in modern post-Furman period; two of those cases were voluntary. The death sentence was administered by lethal injection.

	Executed person	Date of execution	Crime	Victim(s)	Under Governor
1	Elijah Page	July 11, 2007	First Degree Murder	Chester Allan Poage	Mike Rounds
2	Eric Robert	October 15, 2012	First Degree Murder	Correctional officer Ronald "RJ" Johnson	Dennis Daugaard
3	Donald Moeller	October 30, 2012	First Degree Murder	Becky O'Connell

History

South Dakota executed 15 men between 1877 and 1947. The first was Jack McCall, killer of Wild Bill Hickok. Four of these executions were prior to Statehood, 11 since.

Abolition, reintroduction, and methods of executions

Hanging was the only method used until 1913, when death penalty was temporary abolished in 1915.

The death penalty was, however, reinstated in 1933 and electric chair became sole method. Only one person was electrocuted in South Dakota (George Sitts, 1947) and this was the last execution until Page. South Dakota was second-to-last state to use electrocution.

There were speculations that George Sitts was executed by borrowed electric chair from Nebraska due to problems with South Dakota own chair. This claim remains unproven and challenged.

Pre-Furman executions

Between 1877 and 1915, 14 individuals were executed in South Dakota. All were executed by hanging.

Executed person	Date of execution	Crime	Under Governor
Jack McCall	1 March 1877	murder of Wild Bill Hickok	John L. Pennington
Thomas Egan	13 July 1882	murder of his wife, Mary	Nehemiah G. Ordway
Brave Bear	1 November 1882	murder of Joseph Johnson
James Gilmore	15 December 1882	murder of Bisente Ortez
James B. Lehman	February 19, 1892	murder of Constable John Burns	Arthur C. Mellette
Nathaniel Thompson	January 20, 1893	murder of Electa Blighton	Charles H. Sheldon
Jay Hicks	November 15, 1894	murder and robbery of John Meyer
Chief Two Sticks	28 December 1894	instigating four murders
Charles Brown	14 July 1897	murder and robbery of Emma Stone	Andrew E. Lee
Ernest Loveswar	19 September 1902	murders of George Puck and George Ostrander	Charles N. Herreid
Allen Walkingshield	January 15, 1902	murder of Mrs. Ghost-Faced Bear
George Bear	5 December 1902	murder of C. Edward Tayloe and John Shaw
Emil Victor	16 November 1909	murder of Mr. and Mrs. James Christie, daughter Mildred and Michael Ronayne	Robert S. Vessey
Joe Rickman	December 3, 1913	murder of Ellen Fox and her 14-year-old daughter, Mildred Fox	Frank M. Byrne

After reintroduction of the death penalty, until post-Furman era, one person was executed:

Inmate	Date	Method	Crime	Under Governor
George Sitts	April 8, 1947	electric chair	Murder of special state agent Thomas Matthews. He also killed Butte Co. Sheriff Dave Malcolm, but was not separately tried for that murder.	George T. Mickelson