BRIEF HISTORY OF EXECUTIONS IN NEVADAThere have been at least 71 legal executions in Nevada and 1 in Carson City, Utah Territory.
Prior to the creation of Nevada Territory, John Carr was executed by hanging on the west side of Carson City, Carson County, on November 30, 1860 by order of the 2nd Judicial District of Utah Territory for the shooting murder of Bernhard Cherry in Carson City in late October.
Between late 1861, when Nevada Territory was organized, and 1903, executions by hanging were conducted at the county seats in which the person was convicted.There has not been a comprehensive compilation of legal executions conducted in Nevada prior to 1903.
1862, Bill Carr
1863, January 9; Allen Milstead, Dayton
The earliest known legal execution in Nevada occurred on January 9, 1863 when Allen Milstead was hanged outside Dayton for killing Lyon County Commissioner T. Varney at Ragtown (for judicial purposes, Churchill County was administered by Lyon County until 1864) on October 29, 1862. Some 700 people viewed the execution.1864 James Brady
See The Execution of James Brady, for Shooting Murphy, at Nevada
1868, April 24; John Milleain (Millan, Millian, Melanie or Milliean), Virginia City
On April 24, 1868, John Millian was hanged outside Virginia City for the strangulation murder of prostitute Julia Bulette. Mark Twain was among the estimated 4000 persons who witnessed the execution (see eyewitness report).1868, October 30; Rufus B. Anderson, Austin
On October 30, 1868, Rufus B. Anderson, age 20, hanged at Austin for the shooting murder of Noble T. Slocum. Anderson had to be dropped three times from the gallows before he died. Members of crowd tried to intervene after the first try, but was held back by militia guards.1870, December 16; Ah Fung, Unionville
1870; December 16; Au Ung, Unionville
The first Chinese legally executed in Nevada, Ah Fung and Ah Ung, were hanged in Unionville on December 16, 1870 for killing a fellow countryman. An estimated 300 persons watched the execution.1871, Arthur Heffnan
1873, October 17; David M. Hall, Belmont
1874, April 24; John Stewart, Aurora
1874, December 29; John Murphy, Carson City (at the foot of Lone Mountain)
On December 18,1874, Governor Lewis Rice Bradley granted a reprieve to John Murphy in Carson City in order that his sanity be determined.In 1875, the state legislature prohibited public executions without invitations.
1877, January 19; Peter Larkin, Virginia City
1877, October 30; Robert Crozier, Winnemucca
1877, December 22; Sam Mills, Elko
The first African-American legally executed in Nevada, Sam Mills, was hanged in Elko on December 22, 1877 for the shooting murder of James Finnerty at Halleck on April 8, 1877.1878, February 19; J. W. Rover, Reno
On February 19, 1878, J. W. Rover was hanged at Reno for the murder of business partner I. N. Sharp on April 8, 1875 at Sulphur Springs, Humboldt County. The Supreme Court, on appeal from Humboldt County District Court, ordered a retrial. Conviction in second trial. Another appeal, another order for retrial. Change of venue to Washoe County, again convicted of murder in the first degree in third trial. Board of Pardons refused to commute death sentence. Rover protested his innocence to the end.
Other business partner and accuser, F. J. McWorthy, allegedly made death bed confession in Arizona Territory in 1890s that he had killed Sharp and that Rover had been hanged for a crime he did not commit (see The Silver State (Winnemucca), July 22, 1899, 4:6; Reno Evening Gazette, July 24, 1899, 1:5; Humboldt Star (Winnemucca), February 21, 1928, 1:4-6).1880, April 6; Charles Wesley Hymers, Winnemucca
1882, February 9; Charley Hing, Winnemucca
1885, January 23; Indian Dave, Belmont
The first Native American legally executed in Nevada, Indian Dave, a Shoshone, was hanged at Belmont on January 23, 1885, for the murder of a Chinese man at Keyser's Springs.1886, March 5; Clarence Gray, Winnemucca
1886, December 31; Edward Crutchley, Hamilton
1890, June 20; Elizabeth Potts, Elko
The first and only woman ever executed, Elizabeth Potts, was hanged with her husband, Josiah Potts, in Elko using double gallows on June 20, 1890, for the shooting murder and mutilation of Miles Faucett in Carlin. (See The Ghost Cries Murder)1890, June 20; Josiah Potts, Elko
1890, December 12; Hank Parish, Ely
The 1901 state legislature required that all executions be conducted at the State Prison in Carson City beginning in 1903.
1905 John Hancock
The first execution by hanging at the State Prison, John Hancock, was on September 8, 1905.1905 T. Gorman
1905 Al Linderman
1905 Fred Roberts
1905 J. Sevener
The largest multiple execution in the history of Nevada occurred on November 17, 1905 when four men, Thomas F. Gorman, Al Linderman, Fred Reidt, and John P. Sevener, were executed using double gallows for the murder of a transient they threw off a moving train while they pilfered the box cars.1906 Indian Johnny
See The Death of Indian Johnny1906 Joe Ibapah
Two Native Americans, Indian Johnny, a Shoshone, and Joe Ibapah, a Goshute, were executed using double gallows on December 7, 1906 for the murder of a transient.1909 Charles Kaiser
1909 George Williams
The 1911 state legislature provided that a death row inmate could elect to die by shooting or hanging. Ten men were hanged at the State Prison before the law was changed
1911 Patrick Casey
1913 Andriza Mikovich
The first and only execution by shooting occurred on May 14, 1913, Andriza Mircovich, a Montenegrin, for the stabbing murder of a fellow countryman in Tonopah.
The 1921 state legislature eliminated hanging and shooting as a method of execution, and provided for execution by lethal gas. Nevada was the first state in the US to use lethal gas as a method of execution. Nevada's chamber was built and designed by the Eaton Metal Company in Denver. Eaton manufactured smelters although the company also built eight out of the ten gas chambers used in the United States.Thirty-two men were executed in Nevada's gas chamber between 1924 and 1979.
1924 Jon Gee
The first person in Nevada and the country to be executed by lethal gas was Gee Jon, a Chinese man, on February 8, 1924, for the shooting murder of a fellow countryman in a Tong war dispute in Mina.
1926 Stanko Jukich
1930 Robert White
1931 Luis Ceja
1932 John Hall
1933 Elmer Miller
1934 Joseph Behiter
1937 Luther Jones1939 Domenico Nadal
1939 Burton Williamson
1940 Wilson Boyd
1942 John Kramer
The oldest person ever executed at the State Prison was John Kramer, age 61, on August 28, 1942.
1943 Floyd McKinney
1944 Raymond Plunkett
1944 Floyd Loveless
The youngest person ever executed at the State Prison was Floyd Loveless, age 17, on September 29, 1944, for the shooting murder of a constable near Carlin when Loveless was 15.Governor Edward Peter Carville received an Attorney General’s opinion on September 21, 1944 stating that the “Governor has no authority to grant reprieve when sixty days from time of conviction has expired.”
1946 Albert Sala1947 Paul Skaug, convicted of killing Mrs. Marie Voss, December 12, 1944. Executed, January 10, 1947. Age 26
1949 David Blackwell
1949 Laszlo Varga
1949 Eugene Gambetta
1950 James Williams
1951 Theodore Gregory
1951 Gregorio Arellano1952 Domingo Echevarria
1953 Clayton Fourquette
1954 Ferdinand Bourdiais
1954 Frank Pedrini
1954 Leroy Linden
The only double execution using lethal gas occurred on July 15, 1954--Linden Leroy and Frank Pedrini at their request.
1960 Earl Steward
1961 Thayne Archibald
The last involuntary execution prior to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972 was Thayne Archibald, on August 21, 1961, for the execution-style murder of a kidnap victim following a robbery in northern California (Bill Raggio, Washoe Co. D.A., prosecuted the case).The 1967 state legislature passed a law exempting persons under the age of 16 who commit a capital crime from being executed.
In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that existing capital punishment laws were unconstitutional.
Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
The 1977 state legislature adopted a new death penalty statute.
1979 Jesse Bishop
Jesse Bishop was the last person to be executed in Nevada using lethal gas on October 22, 1979.
Bishop wanted to be executed, but the ACLU intervened. The Pardons Board, headed by then-Gov. Bob List, voted 5-2 to reject a request to commute his sentence. He was executed two months later.
Bishop, the first man to be executed in Nevada following the reinstatement of capital punishment by the Nevada Legislature in 1977, was sentenced to death for killing David Ballard in the El Morocco casino in Las Vegas in December 1977.The 1983 state legislature changed the method of execution to lethal injection.
December 6, 1985, Carroll Cole became the first person executed by lethal injection in Nevada,June 19, 1989; William Thompson, second,
June 23, 1989; Sean Flanagan, third,
June 3, 1990; Thomas Baal, fourth,
25-year-old Thomas Baal was executed in Nevada after refusing to appeal his sentence for the murder of Frances Maves. His parents said that they believed her murder would not have happened if their son had received adequate psychiatric help. ''He was in mental hospitals until he was 14, and after that he was in and out of hospitals until he was 18... If they would have listened to us for the last 20 years when we asked for help, that woman would still be alive.'' They said that over the years they had spent more than $100,000 on psychiatric treatment for their son, but that ''when the money ran out, they let him sign out of a mental hospital''. The parents said that their pleas for government assistance in getting psychiatric help were ignored.
March 31, 1996; Richard Moran, fifth (involuntary execution),
October 5, 1998; Richard Abeyta, sixth,
April 5, 1999; Alvaro Calambro, seventh,
April 21, 2001, Sebastian S. Bridges, eighth.
Sources: Nevada State Libary Online, others