Researcher and former law professor Harriet C. Frazier has produced a thorough investigative work on the death penalty in Missouri: Death Sentences in Missouri, 1803 – 2005: A History and Comprehensive Registry of Legal Executions, Pardons, and Commutations. Building on the research of Watt Espy, Frazier discovered accounts of many additional executions in the state, especially in its earlier years. She devotes chapters to such important areas as executions of Native Americans, blacks, juveniles and women, and executions for the crime of rape. The book is both historical and up-to-date, including a discussion of innocent defendants who have recently been freed from Missouri’s death row.
(McFarland & Co. 2006). See History and the Espy File. See also Books.
- Death Penalty Information Center (2025, March 14). NEW BOOKS: Death Sentences in Missouri, 1803-2005. Retrieved October 2, 2026, from https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-books-death-sentences-in-missouri-1803-2005
- Death Penalty Information Center. “NEW BOOKS: Death Sentences in Missouri, 1803-2005.” Last modified March 14, 2025. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-books-death-sentences-in-missouri-1803-2005.
- Death Penalty Information Center. “NEW BOOKS: Death Sentences in Missouri, 1803-2005.” Death Penalty Information Center, 14 Mar. 2025, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-books-death-sentences-in-missouri-1803-2005. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.
