The following is a list of people executed by the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. A total of 1,043 people have been

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in Pennsylvania since 1693, the third highest of any other state or commonwealth in the Union, after

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(1,130) and

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 ...

(1,361). Until 1915,

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 i ...

was the common method of execution. 1915 saw the first use of 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, ...

, even though it was approved by the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

in 1913. The delay was due to the time needed to finish the Western Penitentiary in Centre County, now the

State Correctional Institution – Rockview The State Correctional Institution – Rockview, commonly referred to as SCI Rockview, is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison located in Benner Township, Pennsylvania, away from Bellefonte. A portion of the prison grounds extends ...

. On November 29, 1990, Governor Casey changed the form of execution to

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

. The last person to be publicly executed in Pennsylvania was Charles Getter, who was hanged on

Getter's Island Getter's Island, previously known as Abel's Island, is a small island in the Delaware River in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is best known as the location of the execution of Charles Getter, the last person to be publicly executed ...

on January 11, 1833.See a bird's-eye view of Getter's Island, now for sale in Easton
/ref>

After 1976

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, 3 men, all convicted of murder, have been executed by the Commonwealth of

. All were executed by lethal injection, and in all cases, they waived their appeals and asked that the execution be carried out.

References

{{CapPun-US

People executed *

After 1976

See also

References