Montana

Timeline

1943 — Montana car­ries out the last exe­cu­tion by hanging.

1988 — David Cameron Keith is grant­ed clemen­cy by Montana Governor Ted Schwinden.

1995 — Montana adopts lethal injec­tion as the sole method of exe­cu­tion. Duncan McKenzie is the first per­son to be exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion instead of hang­ing in Montana.

2006 — Montana car­ries out the exe­cu­tion of David Thomas Dawson by lethal injec­tion. Mr. Dawson is the last per­son to be exe­cut­ed in Montana.

2011 — The Montana state Senate pass­es a bill that would repeal the death penal­ty and replace it with a sen­tence of life without parole.

2012 — Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock strikes down Montana’s three-drug lethal injec­tion pro­to­col as it dif­fers from the two-drug exe­cu­tion pro­to­col spelled out in the law, which Judge Sherlock said would increase the like­li­hood of error and con­fu­sion in the process.

2015 — Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock rules that the state of Montana is pro­hib­it­ed from using pen­to­bar­bi­tal in its lethal injec­tion pro­to­col until the statute autho­riz­ing lethal injec­tion is mod­i­fied in con­for­mance with this deci­sion. As a result, exe­cu­tions in Montana will con­tin­ue to be on hold indefinitely.

2021 — Montana leg­is­la­tors pro­pose a mea­sure to broad­en the types of drugs that can be used in lethal injec­tions. The leg­is­la­tion would amend the state’s exe­cu­tion law to remove the require­ment that Montana must use an ​“ultra-fast-act­ing barbiturate.”

2023 — Montana Senate votes down a bill that aims to revise the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dure to secure a restart in executions.

Notable Cases

The exe­cu­tion of Duncan McKenzie by lethal injec­tion in 1995 was the first exe­cu­tion by a method oth­er than hang­ing in Montana.

Notable Commutations/​Clemencies

In 1988, David Cameron Keith was grant­ed clemen­cy by Gov. Ted Schwinden. Reasons report­ed­ly includ­ed Keith’s par­tial paral­y­sis and blind­ness, remorse, reli­gious con­ver­sion, and the pos­si­bil­i­ty that he may have shot the vic­tim as a reflex action.

Milestones in Abolition/​Reinstatement

Bills to abol­ish the death penal­ty passed the Montana Senate in 2009 and 2011, but were defeat­ed in the state House Judiciary com­mit­tee each time.

Other Interesting Facts

Hanging was the method of exe­cu­tion in Montana until 1995 (lethal gas was added in 1983 but nev­er used), although the last hang­ing in Montana occurred in 1943. In 1995, Montana adopt­ed lethal injec­tion as the sole method of execution.

Montana was one of the last states to move exe­cu­tions from local author­i­ties to cen­tral­ized state administration.

Resources

• Department of Corrections
• Montana Abolition Coalition
• Montana County Attorneys Association
• Public defend­er’s office
• Victims’ ser­vices
  

Montana Execution Totals Since 1976