Capital punishment is abolished in the U.S. State of West Virginia since 1965. Prior to secession from the Confederacy and admission to the Union on June 20, 1863, West Virginia was a part of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. 43 people were executed under Virginia's authority, 112 after statehood. The first two people executed in the State of West Virginia were Daniel Grogan and Thomas Boice, both convicted of murder. After secession, no women have been executed in West Virginia.

Hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

was an official method until 1949. In 1949, West Virginia was the last state to adopt the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

as its only means of execution. The two first inmates electrocuted were Harry Burdette and Fred Painter. Then- State Delegate

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

was among the official witnesses during their executions. Byrd recalled this event, stating "It's not a beautiful thing." Until 1959, 102 people were hanged, nine electrocuted and one hung in chains. The last person executed by West Virginia was Elmer Bruner on April 3, 1959, for the robbery-murder of Ruby Miller committed with the claw-end of a hammer in Huntington. No federal executions have taken place in West Virginia, but two were sentenced to death in 2007, George Lecco and Valerie Friend, for the murder of an informant who was supplying federal law enforcement with information about the Leccos cocaine drug ring. Those verdicts and sentences were overturned in 2009 due to

juror misconduct Juror misconduct is when the law of the court is violated by a member of the jury while a court case is in progression or after it has reached a verdict."USLegal Definitions" Misconduct can take several forms: * Communication by the jury with ...

, and the retrials ended with life without parole and 35 years for Lecco and Friend respectively. Along with Iowa, West Virginia became the final pre- ''Furman'' state to abolish capital punishment in 1965.NCADP Affiliate: ACLU of West Virginia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capital Punishment In West Virginia

West V West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Crime in West Virginia West Virginia law

See also

References