Capital punishment in Alaska
Capital punishment has never been practiced Alaska throughout its history as a state, as it was abolished in 1957. Between December 28, 1869, and April 14, 1950, between the Department, District, and Territory of Alaska, twelve felons, all male, were executed by hanging for murder, robbery, and other crimes.[1] Some were European, some were Native American, and two were African.[2] The territorial legislature abolished capital punishment in 1957 during preparations for statehood, making Alaska the first in the West Coast of the United States to outlaw executions, along with Hawaii, which did the same.
19th Century
There is no recorded history of any executions occurring in Alaska prior to its purchase by the United States government and its designation as the Department of Alaska. There are only four recorded executions in Alaska during the 19th century.[1]
The first recorded execution to occur in the Alaskan Territory was that of a
The second execution in the Alaskan Territory was that of John Boyd, a white miner in Wrangell who had murdered another miner, Thomas O'Brien,[6] on December 13, 1878, during a drunken argument over a woman. Wrangell miners held a makeshift court in which Boyd was convicted of O'Brien's murder. Boyd was publicly hanged the next day.[3] Newspapers erroneously called Boyd the first person to be hanged in Alaska. The hanging was purported to have occurred in front of a group of 800 Native Americans.[7]
The last hanging in Alaska during the 19th century was that of Charlie Green (or Charley Green) and Boxer, two Native American men who were accused of clubbing to death a white rum salesman named Richard Rainey.[8] The execution is reported to have occurred on either July 30, 1883,[1] or August 14, 1883.[9] A few reports on this execution refer to it as a lynching rather than a legal execution.[9]
20th Century
Eight of Alaska's twelve recorded executions took place in the 20th century.
The first was the hanging of Fred Hardy, who was convicted of murdering Florence and Con Sullivan, two brothers who were natives of
The second 20th-century execution in Alaska was that of Homer Bird, the only person to be legally executed in Sitka.[13] Bird, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, was convicted of the murders of J.H. Hurlin and Robert L. Patterson. Bird had traveled Northwest to Alaska due to the Klondike Gold Rush and joined with a group consisting of Hurlin, Patterson, Charles Sheffler, and Bird's lover, Norma Strong; he shot Hurlin and Patterson in a fit of jealousy on September 27, 1898. While Hurlin died on the day of the shooting, Patterson temporarily survived and was transported to Anvik, Alaska, where he lingered before succumbing to his injuries more than six months later, on April 8, 1899.[14] Bird's death sentence was passed on February 9, 1900, and after a protracted legal battle, he was hanged more than three years later on March 6, 1903.[13]
There were no recorded executions in Alaska during the 1910s. Eighteen years after the execution of Homer Bird, Mailo Segura was hanged in
The next two executions were notoriously botched. On October 7, 1921, a Native American known only as "Hamilton" or "John Doe Hamilton" was executed by hanging in Fairbanks. Hamilton, who spoke no English, was convicted of murdering his cousin due to his cousin
The second botched hanging was that of Constantine Beaver, another Native American man who spoke no English and was convicted of murdering Egnatty Necketta, a friend, during a drunken brawl
Nelson Charles, a Native American man from Ketchikan, Alaska, was hanged on November 10, 1939, for sexually assaulting and stabbing to death Cecelia Johnson, his 58-year-old mother-in-law. Charles was the only person executed in recorded Alaskan history for murdering a woman.[20] Charles was convicted by an all-white jury at a time when Ketchikan was racially segregated. His attorney, who only had a few days to prepare for the case before it went to trial, petitioned for an extension and was rejected. Charles was allegedly heavily intoxicated during the time that he committed the crime, which was information that could have saved his life, as at the time, a person could not be found guilty of first-degree murder if they were sufficiently impaired by alcohol during the crime's commission.[20]
The final two executions in Alaska occurred in connection with the same crime. Austin Nelson and
No executions occurred in Alaska after statehood.[1]
Abolition
In 1957, the Alaska Territorial Legislature passed a measure stating simply: "The death penalty is and shall hereafter be abolished as punishment in Alaska for the commission of any crime."[22] The abolition followed prolonged debates during discussions pertaining to Alaskan statehood, during which Warren A. Taylor gave an "impassioned speech" pleading for the death penalty to be abolished in the state.[23]
The junior sponsor of the abolition bill, Vic Fisher, stated that one factor that motivated Alaskan politicians to abolish the death penalty was concern surrounding the
Lerman noted that out of 183 murderers convicted in Alaska between 1935 and 1958, 138 of them were white, two were black, 10 were indigenous Alaskans, 22 were of other Native American heritage, 7 were Filipino, and 1 was uncategorized; nevertheless, the only two black people, Austin Nelson and Eugene LaMoore, were executed, while one Native American, Nelson Charles, was executed as well, and no one of any other race was subjected to the death penalty.[15][23]
Since the death penalty's abolition in 1957, there have been several measures to revive the death penalty, but none have been successful.[15]
List of Executions in Alaska, 1869-1950
All of the people executed in Alaska between 1869 and 1950 were men. They were all executed by hanging.
Name | Race | Age | County/Settlement | Date of Execution | Crime |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scutd-doo (or Scutdor) | Stikine ) |
? | Wrangell | 1869-12-29 | Murder of Leon Smith |
John Boyd | White | ? | Wrangell | 1878-12-14 | Murder of Thomas O'Brien |
Charlie Green | Native American | ? | Juneau | 1883-07-30 | Murder of Richard Rainey |
Boxer | Native American | ? | Juneau | 1883-07-30 | Murder of Richard Rainey |
Fred Hardy | White | 26 | Nome | 1902-09-19 | Murder and robbery of F.J. Rooney, Florence Sullivan, and Con Sullivan |
Homer Bird | White | 45 | Sitka | 1903-03-06 | Murder of J.H. Hurlin and Robert L. Patterson |
Mailo Segura | White (Montenegrin) | 36 | Fairbanks | 1921-04-15 | Murder of J.E. Reilly |
(John Doe) Hamilton | Native American | ? | Fairbanks | 1921-10-07 | Murder of his cousin |
Constantine Beaver | Native American | 32 | Fairbanks | 1929-09-07 | Murder of Egnatty Necketta |
Nelson Charles | Native American | 38 | Juneau | 1939-11-10 | Murder and sexual assault of Cecelia Johnson |
Austin Nelson | Black |
24 | Juneau | 1948-03-01 | Murder of Jim Ellen |
Eugene LaMoore | Black | 46 | Juneau | 1950-04-14 | Murder of Jim Ellen |
References
- ^ a b c d e Executions is the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File Executions by State https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ESPYstate.pdf
- ^ No information seems to be come by regarding the Russian Empire period. - Ed.
- ^ a b c d "Black Sheep of Alaska". AlaskaWeb.
- ^ Jones, Zachary R. (July 2015). "The 1869 Bombardment of Ḵaachx ̱an.áakʼw from Fort Wrangell: The U.S. Army Response to Tlingit Law, Wrangell, Alaska". Sealaska Heritage Institute, National Park Service, and American Battlefield Protection Program – via Academia.edu.
- ^ Day, James M. (1965). "Leon Smith: Confederate Mariner". East Texas Historical Journal. 3 (1). Stephen F. Austin State University.
- ^ Wrangell History Unlocked (13 May 2021). "The Trial of John Boyd for the Murder of Thomas O'Brien". Libsyn. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "John Boyd Hanged". Bismarck Tribune. 27 January 1879. p. 5. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Washington News from Alaska". Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Harrisburg Telegraph. 8 September 1883. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Washington News". Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore Sun. 10 September 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Associated Press (1 October 1901). "Swinging High on a Nome Scaffold". The Butte Inter Mountain. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "MUST HANG - Dastardly Murders of the Far North Will Be Avenged". The Oregon Daily Journal. 30 July 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Hanging at Nome". The Independent (Honolulu, Hawaii). 22 October 1902. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ a b Sitka History Museum (9 March 2017). "Sitka's Only Court-Sanctioned Execution Was for a Famous Klondike Crime". Juneau Empire. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ DeArmond, Robert N. (14 August 1991). "News Notes from Sitka's Past". Daily Sitka Sentinel. p. 9. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Green, Melissa S. (20 July 2001). "A History of the Death Penalty in Alaska". Justice Center - University of Alaska Anchorage. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- hdl:11122/3206. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "40 Years Ago Today". Fairbanks Daily News Miner. 17 February 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "On a Charge of First-Degree Murder". Fairbanks Daily News Miner. 28 January 1929. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "DIES WITH BRAVERY". Fairbanks Daily News Miner. 7 September 1929. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b Kiffer, David (15 October 2005). "Abolition of Alaska's Death Penalty". Stories in the News. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Teicher, Jordan G. (21 January 2014). "Emily Kinni Photographs Former Execution Sites in Her Series "Where Death Dies"". Slate. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ "Alaska". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ hdl:11122/3266. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
Additional reading
- Young, Patricia (2009), preparer. Legislative research report: Capital punishment in the U.S. and in Alaska. Juneau: Alaska Legislature Legislative Research Services.