Crimes Punishable By Death

Those Executed Who Did Not Directly Kill the Victim

Everyone who has been exe­cut­ed since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976 par­tic­i­pat­ed in a crime in which at least one vic­tim died. In most cas­es, the per­son exe­cut­ed direct­ly killed the vic­tim. In a small minor­i­ty of cas­es, the per­son exe­cut­ed ordered or con­tract­ed with anoth­er per­son to car­ry out the mur­der. In anoth­er group of cas­es, the per­son exe­cut­ed par­tic­i­pat­ed in a felony dur­ing which a vic­tim died at the hands of anoth­er par­tic­i­pant in the felony. The defen­dant in such cas­es was typ­i­cal­ly found guilty of ​“felony mur­der” or under the ​“law of par­ties,” and in some states can receive the death penal­ty, despite not hav­ing killed or direct­ed the killing of the vic­tim. The US Supreme Court has restrict­ed the use of the death penal­ty in such cas­es. See Enmund v. Florida and Tison v. Arizona.

We list below the cas­es that we are aware of in which the defen­dant was found guilty of felony mur­der. We sep­a­rate­ly list the cas­es in which the per­son exe­cut­ed con­tract­ed to have the vic­tim killed, though these cas­es do not fit under the class of felony mur­der and are not meant to imply less cul­pa­bil­i­ty. We wel­come any addi­tions or cor­rec­tions to these lists.

See also DPIC’s page Kennedy v. Louisiana regard­ing the Supreme Court deci­sion strik­ing down statutes that allowed the death penal­ty for non-homi­cide crimes against individuals.

Felony Murders

NameStateRace of
Defendant		Execution DateDescription of Crime
1.Doyle SkillernTXWhite1/​16/​1985Accomplice in the mur­der of an under­cov­er nar­cotics agent. He was wait­ing in a car near­by when the mur­der hap­pened. The shoot­er is serv­ing a life sen­tence, but eli­gi­ble for parole. (“Killers’ Fates Diverged; Accomplice Is Executed; Triggerman Faces Parole,” Washington Post, January 16, 1985)
2.Beauford WhiteFLBlack8/​18/​1987Stood guard while two men went into a house look­ing for drugs and then killed six of the house­’s occu­pants. The two shoot­ers were exe­cut­ed as well. (“Florida Prisoner Executed after 10-year Fight for Life,” St. Petersburg Times, August 29, 1987)
3.Ignacio CuevasTXLatino5/​23/​1991Cuevas was serv­ing a 45-year sen­tence for mur­der when he took part in an attempt­ed prison escape. During the course of the attempt, a prison librar­i­an and teacher were shot to death by anoth­er pris­on­er involved in the escape. Cuevas was sen­tenced to death as an accom­plice, under Texas’ ​“law of par­ties.” (Associated Press, Participant in Prison Siege Is Executed in Texas, The New York Times, May 23, 1991.)
4.G.W. GreenTXWhite11/​12/​1991Participated in a rob­bery, where one of his accom­plices shot the pro­ba­tion offi­cer who owned the home. The shoot­er was exe­cut­ed on 9/​10/​87 and anoth­er accom­plice is serv­ing a life sen­tence. (“15 Years After Crime, Texas Inmate Is Executed,” New York Times, November 13, 1991)
5.William AndrewsUTBlack7/​30/​1992Participated in a rob­bery and tor­ture, but his accom­plice mur­dered the vic­tims after he left. The shoot­er was exe­cut­ed as well. (“Utah Execution Hinges on Issue of Racial Bias,” New York Times, July 19, 1992)
6.Carlos SantanaTXLatino4/​23/​1993Participated in a rob­bery. During the rob­bery his accom­plice mur­dered a secu­ri­ty guard. His accom­plice was exe­cut­ed on December 8, 1998. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
7.Jessie GutierrezTXLatino9/​17/​1994Participated in a rob­bery with his broth­er, Jose Gutierrez, who killed the vic­tim. Jessie was appar­ent­ly present dur­ing the mur­der and even bran­dished a gun while con­tin­u­ing with the rob­bery. Jose was also exe­cut­ed (in 1999). (Texas Attorney General press release, Nov. 17, 1999)
8.Gregory ResnoverINBlack12/​8/​1994A police offi­cer was killed when try­ing to arrest Resnover and Tommie J. Smith. Smith and Resnover both fired shots at the police, but Smith was con­vict­ed as the one who fired the fatal shoot. Smith was exe­cut­ed on 7/​18/​1996. (“Capital Punishment in Indiana,” Indy Star, June 15, 2007)
9.Steven HatchOKWhite8/​9/​1996Steven Hatch with his co-defen­dant Glenn Ake par­tic­i­pat­ed in a home inva­sion. After abus­ing the fam­i­ly for sev­er­al hours, Hatch went out to the car while Ake killed the par­ents. Ake is serv­ing a life sen­tence. (“Oklahoma Justice: Should Crime Partner Get Death Penalty,” Christian Science Monitor, August 7, 1996)
10.Dale BishopMSWhite7/​23/​2008Bishop and one oth­er indi­vid­ual were tried for a 1998 blud­geon­ing death. Bishop acknowl­edged his par­tic­i­pa­tion in the attack, but his code­fen­dant, Jessie Johnson, admit­ted to strik­ing the lethal blow. Johnson was tried sep­a­rate­ly and received a life sen­tence with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. (Staff Report, Mississippi exe­cut­ed con­demned inmate Bishop, Picayune Item, July 24, 2008.)
11.Michael RodriguezTXLatino8/​14/​2008Rodriguez was one of the ​“Texas 7,” a group of men who escaped from a max­i­mum-secu­ri­ty Texas prison on December 13, 2000. After escap­ing, the men robbed a sport­ing goods store, they were con­front­ed by police offi­cer Aubrey Hawkins. Hawkins was killed in a shootout, but Rodriguez was not respon­si­ble for shoot­ing Hawkins. Rodriguez’s father left a truck at a local store for the men to use. (Michael Graczyk, ​‘I’ve done hor­ri­ble things’: 1st ​‘Texas 7’ escapee exe­cut­ed, Associated Press, August 14, 2008.)
12.Dennis SkillicornMOWhite5/​20/​2009Skillicorn and co-defen­dants Allen Nicklasson and Tim DeGraffenreid kid­napped Richard Drummond, who had stopped to help the three with their bro­ken down car. While Skillicorn and Graffenreid wait­ed in the car, Nicklasson led Drummond a 1/​4 mile away and shot the vic­tim. (“Missouri is about to exe­cute Dennis Skillicorn. The state’s death penal­ty may not out­live him very long.,” Kansas City Pitch, May 12, 2009)
13.Robert ThompsonTXBlack11/​19/​2009Thompson and co-defen­dant Sammy Butler entered a Seven Evenings con­ve­nience store in Houston with intent to rob. Thompson shot one clerk who sur­vived the attack. On the way out, anoth­er clerk came out fir­ing shots at the vehi­cle. Butler shot and killed that clerk. Butler was giv­en a life sen­tence. The Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles rec­om­mend­ed clemen­cy for Thompson, which Texas Governor Rick Perry reject­ed. (“Killer exe­cut­ed after Perry rejects pan­el’s advice,” Houston Chronicle, November 20, 2009)
14.Steven WoodsTXWhite9/​13/​2011Woods was sen­tenced and exe­cut­ed for the 2001 mur­der of two indi­vid­u­als in Denton County. Woods main­tained his inno­cence, claim­ing that despite being present at the crime scene, he did not pull the trig­ger or kill the vic­tims. (Michael Graczyk, Death Row Inmate Maintains Innocence During Execution, NBCDFW, September 14, 2011.)
15.Cleve FosterTXWhite9/​25/​2012Foster was con­vict­ed under the Texas ​“law of par­ties” for his par­tic­i­pa­tion in the 2002 mur­der of Nyaneur Pal in Fort Worth, Texas. Foster alleged that his code­fen­dant, who con­fessed to the mur­der and died in prison of can­cer, killed the vic­tim passed out. (Corrie MacLaggan and Terry Baynes, Texas puts to death man who received three stays of exe­cu­tion, Reuters, September 25, 2012.)
16.William Van PoyckFLWhite6/​12/​2013Van Poyck and Frank Valdes were con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death for the 1987 shoot­ing death of a cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer dur­ing an escape attempt. Valdes was beat­en to death by cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers in 1999. After his death, his wife came for­ward with infor­ma­tion impli­cat­ing Valdes as the shoot­er, not Van Poyck. Van Poyck main­tained he did not shoot the vic­tim. (Crimesider Staff, William Van Poyck Execution: Florida man due to be exe­cut­ed Wednesday for mur­der of prison guard, CBS News, June 11, 2013.)
17.Michael Lee WilsonOKBlack1/​9/​2014Wilson was con­vict­ed for plan­ning and tak­ing part in the 1995 mur­der of a cowork­er, along with three code­fen­dants. Video evi­dence showed that while Wilson’s code­fen­dants beat the vic­tim, he was behind the counter serv­ing cus­tomers who entered the store and try­ing to remove the safe from under the counter. (Heide Brandes, Oklahoma exe­cutes man who killed store man­ag­er in rob­bery, Reuters, January 9, 2014.)
18.Ray JasperTXBlack3/​19/​2014Jasper and a code­fen­dant par­tic­i­pat­ed in the 2000 mur­der and rob­bery of a San Antonio, Texas record­ing stu­dio own­er. Jasper admit­ted he slashed the victim’s throat, but alleged his code­fen­dant deliv­ered the fatal stab wounds. (KENS 5 Staff, Ray Jasper exe­cut­ed for 1998 mur­der of San Antonio busi­ness own­er, KENS5, March 19, 2014.)
19.Donald NewburyTXWhite2/​4/​2015Newbury was one of the ​“Texas 7,” a group of men who escaped from a max­i­mum-secu­ri­ty Texas prison on December 13, 2000. After escap­ing, the men robbed a sport­ing goods store, they were con­front­ed by police offi­cer Aubrey Hawkins. Hawkins was killed in a shootout and Newbury, who claimed he did not shoot at Hawkins, was con­vict­ed, and sen­tenced to death under the Texas ​“law of par­ties.” (Associated Press, Donald Newbury of infa­mous ​‘Texas 7’ gang faces exe­cu­tion Wednesday, The Guardian, February 4, 2025; Jason Whitely, ​‘Texas 7’ fugi­tive killer Donald Newbury put to death, USA Today, February 5, 2025.)
20.Joseph GarciaTXLatino12/​4/​2018Garcia was one of the ​“Texas 7,” a group of men who escaped from a max­i­mum-secu­ri­ty Texas prison on December 13, 2000. After escap­ing, the men robbed a sport­ing goods store, where some of the men were con­front­ed by police offi­cer Aubrey Hawkins. Hawkins was killed in a shootout and Garcia, who was not involved in the shootout, was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death under the Texas ​“law of par­ties.” (David Martin Davies, Texas Matters: ​‘Texas 7’ Escapee Set For Execution, Texas Public Radio, November 30, 2018; Keri Blakinger, ​‘Texas 7’ escapee fights death sen­tence as Dec. 4 exe­cu­tion nears, Houston Chronicle, November 23, 2018)
21.Nathaniel WoodsALBlack3/​25/​2020Woods was charged with the mur­der of three Birmingham police offi­cers who were attempt­ing to exe­cute a war­rant for arrest on a mis­de­meanor charge. Woods did not have a weapon on him, and his accom­plice, Kerry Spencer, con­fessed to shoot­ing and killing all three offi­cers. (Dan Barry and Abby Ellin, He Never Touched the Murder Weapon. Alabama Sentenced Him to Die, The New York Times, December 5, 2021.)
22.Brandon BernardFederalBlack12/​10/​2020Bernard was one of five indi­vid­u­als con­vict­ed of the 1999 killing of two youth min­is­ters. Bernard was not the gun­man. Christopher Vialva, con­vict­ed of being the shoot­er, was exe­cut­ed two months ear­li­er. (Christina Carrega, Brandon Bernard exe­cut­ed after Supreme Court denies request for a delay, CNN, December 11, 2020.)

Contract Killings
 

NameStateRace of
Defendant		Execution DateDescription of Crime
1.Anthony AntoneFLWhite1/​26/​1984Planned the Murder of a for­mer Police Detective. The shoot­er com­mit­ted sui­cide while in jail. (“Contract Murderer Dies in Florida,” New York Times, January 27, 1984)
2.Mark HopkinsonWYWhite1/​22/​1992Convicted of order­ing the bomb­ing deaths of a fam­i­ly. The bomber died before he could be ques­tioned. Hopkinson was exe­cut­ed pro­claim­ing his inno­cence. (“Executed in Wyoming,” The Washington Times, January 23, 1992)
3.Larry HeathALWhite3/​20/​1992Contracted for the mur­der of his wife. The shoot­er was giv­en a life sen­tence. (HEATH v. ALABAMA, 474 U.S. 82 (1985))
4.Robert Black Jr.TXWhite5/​22/​1992John Wayne Hearn placed an ad in Soldier of Fortune mag­a­zine offer­ing his skills as a mer­ce­nary. Black con­tact­ed him and paid him to mur­der his wife. Hearn is serv­ing a life sen­tence in Florida. (“Killer Tells of Requests for His Help in Crimes,” New York Times, February 21, 1988)
5.Markham Duff-SmithTXWhite6/​29/​1993Contracted for the mur­der of his adop­tive moth­er. Of the co-defen­dants, one was giv­en a 30-year sen­tence and anoth­er was paroled after serv­ing three years in prison. The shoot­er was exe­cut­ed on 7/​24/​2003. (“Murderers Are Put to Death in Texas and Georgia,” New York Times, June 30, 1993)
6.David FisherVAWhite3/​23/​1999Contracted for mur­der to col­lect a life insur­ance pol­i­cy. The shoot­er received a life sen­tence. (“Virginia Executes Man Who Arranged Murder for Hire.” The Washington Post, March 23, 1999)
7.Marilyn PlantzOKWhite5/​1/​2001Conspired with two men to have her hus­band killed, alleged­ly to col­lect insur­ance mon­ey that they would share in. One of the killers (her lover), William Bryson, was also exe­cut­ed. (“Oklahoma Executes Second Female Prisoner,” Washington Post, May 2, 2001)
8.Clarence Ray AllenCANative American1/​19/​2006While in prison, Allen con­tract­ed Billy Ray Hamilton to mur­der wit­ness­es who had tes­ti­fied against him. Hamilton also received a death sen­tence, but died of can­cer while on death row. (“Death Row Inmate, 58, Dies of Cancer,” The Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2007)
9.Gregory Lynn SummersTXWhite10/​25/​2006Contracted for the mur­der of three fam­i­ly mem­bers. The shoot­er was giv­en a death sen­tence as well. (Texas Department of Corrections: Texas Offender Information)
10.Teresa LewisVAWhite9/​23/​2010Contracted for the mur­der of hus­band and adult step­son. The two shoot­ers received life with­out parole sen­tences. (“Virginia exe­cutes Teresa Lewis for role in slay­ings of hus­band, step­son in 2002,” Washington Post, Sept. 23, 2010)
11.Kelly GissendanerGAWhite9/​30/​2015Arranged to have her boyfriend kill her hus­band. The boyfriend received a life sen­tence after a plea bar­gain. (“Georgia Executes Woman on Death Row Despite Clemency Bid and Pope’s Plea,” N.Y. Times, Sept. 30, 2015)
12.Robert FrattaTXWhite1/​10/​2023Fratta, a for­mer Missouri City pub­lic safe­ty offi­cer, was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death for hir­ing two peo­ple to kill his estranged wife in 1994. (Juan Lozano, Texas exe­cutes ex-offi­cer who hired 2 peo­ple to kill wife, Associated Press, January 10, 2023.)