South Dakota

History of the Death Penalty

All executions were carried out by hanging until 1947, when George Sitts was executed by electrocution. Executions since 1976 have used lethal injection.

Timeline

1877 - Jack McCall becomes the first person executed by the government in the territory that is now South Dakota.

1915 - South Dakota abolishes the death penalty.

1939 - The death penalty is reinstated with electrocution as the only method of execution.

1979 - The death penalty is reinstated following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Furman v. Georgia.

1984 - Lethal injection is first available as a method of execution in South Dakota.

2018 - Charles Rhines asks U.S. Supreme Court to review his case and to rule that it is unconstitutional for jurors to impose the death penalty based on anti-gay animus and stereotypes.

2019 - The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the case of Charles Rhines, despite juror’s anti-gay statements and reliance on homophobic beliefs in deciding to sentence him to death.

2020 - The Senate Judiciary Committee votes down a bill that would have prohibited the use of the death penalty against individuals with severe mental illness.

2021 - A South Dakota state senators introduces a bill that would restrict capital punishment to premeditated murders in which a defendant kills a police officer, corrections officer, or firefighter during the performance of their official duties. The bill would also limit the death penalty to the actual perpetrator of the crime.

Famous Capital Cases

The first person executed by the government in the land that is now South Dakota was Jack McCall, the man convicted of killing Wild Bill Hickok. The execution happened in 1877.

The second person executed in the land that is now South Dakota was Thomas Egan, who was convicted of killing his wife. He was “hanged” three times on the 13th of July 1882; the rope broke on the first attempt, and on the second attempt the rope did not break his neck. Only on the third attempt did the execution go as planned. Years later, his stepdaughter admitted to committing the crime when she was on her death bed.

In 2001, Elijah Page and Briley Piper pleaded guilty to the torture-murder of Chester Allan Poage. They were both sentenced to death by a judge. Darrell Hoadley chose to plead innocent to the murder and was convicted by a jury. Though he was found to have the same aggravating factors against him, a split sentencing jury led to him receiving life in prison. Page chose to end his appeals and was executed in 2007. Piper challenged his death sentence and had his death sentence vacated. He is scheduled to be re-sentenced by a jury in July of 2011.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

Fourteen people were executed in what is now South Dakota before the death penalty was abolished in the state in 1915.

The death penalty was reinstated, with execution by electric chair as the only method, in 1939. One person, George Sitts in 1947, was executed before the death penalty was found to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1972.

Other Interesting Facts

In 1984, South Dakota law was changed to provide for execution by lethal injection.

Resources

• South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
• Department of Corrections
• Victims’ services

South Dakota Execution Totals Since 1976