---
title: Vermont
description: 'Robert Drew, a Vermont native, was executed in Texas on August 2, 1994. Drew maintained his innocence, but was denied a hearing on new evidence. Prominent…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/vermont'
section: statePages
date: '2017-10-12T13:55:16-04:00'
updated: '2026-10-02T19:32:51-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

!  

**Famous Cases**
----------------

**Robert Drew**, a Vermont native, was executed in Texas on August 2, 1994. Drew maintained his innocence, but was denied a hearing on new evidence. Prominent Vermonters, including then-Governor Howard Dean, Representative Bernard Sanders, and Catholic Bishop Kenneth Angell asked Texas Governor Ann Richards for clemency for Drew.

**Notable Exonerations**
------------------------

In 1819, two brothers in Manchester were sentenced to death for the alleged murder of their brother-in-law. The brothers were spared at the last moment, however, when the supposed “dead” man showed up in town.

**Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement**
-----------------------------------------

In 1838, Vermont's legislature defeated an abolition bill by only three votes. If the bill had passed, it would have made Vermont the first state to abolish the death penalty.

The Vermont legislature took no action to reintroduce capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all existing death-penalty laws in *Furman v. Georgia* in 1972, ending the death penalty in the state.

**Resources**
-------------

- [ACLU of Vermont](https://www.acluvt.org/)
- [Department of Corrections](http://www.doc.state.vt.us/)
- [State's Attorneys and Sheriffs' Association](https://prosecutors.vermont.gov/)
- [Public defender's office](http://defgen.vermont.gov/)
- [Victims' services](http://www.ccvs.vermont.gov/)