Executions Overview

Executed But Did Not Directly Kill 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. Neither list is exhaustive.

See also DPI’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 DefendantExecution 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/​28/​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 SantanaTXLatino3/​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 shot. 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 Anthony 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 after he passed out. (Corrie MacLaggan and Terry Baynes, Texas puts to death man who received three stays if 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 Pocyk 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/​5/​2020Woods was with the mur­der of three Birmingham police offi­cers who were attempt­ing to exe­cute a war­rant for his 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.)
23.Emmanuel LittlejohnOKBlack9/​26/​2024Littlejohn par­tic­i­pat­ed in a 1992 rob­bery where the store own­er was fatal­ly shot. Despite 33 years of main­tain­ing his accom­plice was the lone shoot­er and a 3 – 2 clemen­cy rec­om­men­da­tion from the parole board based on the uncer­tain­ty of who pulled the trig­ger, Littlejohn was exe­cut­ed while his accom­plice served a life sen­tence. (Jonathan Greco, Oklahoma Executes Man Despite Clemency Recommendation, ABC News, September 26, 2024.)
24.Anthony BoydALBlack10/​23/​2025Boyd was con­vict­ed under felony mur­der laws for the 1993 kid­nap­ping and burn­ing death of a man over a drug debt. Though the state admit­ted Boyd did not light the fire, he was exe­cut­ed for his alleged role in the abduc­tion and for duct-tap­ing the vic­tim. His con­vic­tion relied on a co-defen­dan­t’s tes­ti­mo­ny giv­en in exchange for a lighter sen­tence, as no phys­i­cal evi­dence linked Boyd to the crime. Despite an ali­bi and a 10 – 2 non-unan­i­mous jury rec­om­men­da­tion, he was exe­cut­ed via nitro­gen hypox­ia. (Lauren Gill, He Was Convicted Entirely On Clashing Eyewitness Testimony. Alabama Plans to Execute Him Next Week., Bolts Magazine, October 15, 2025.)

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 Priosoner,” 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 boyfried 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.Dustin HiggsFederalBlack1/​16/​2021Higgs was con­vict­ed in October 2000 of order­ing the 1996 mur­der of three Maryland women after argu­ing with one of them in his apart­ment. The trig­ger­man, Willis Mark Haynes, was con­vict­ed in May 2000 and sen­tenced to life plus 45 years in prison. Higgs’s case was the third death penal­ty pros­e­cu­tion in Maryland since the fed­er­al death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1988, but marked the first time a jury imposed the death penal­ty. (Washington Post, 10/​27/​00). The pros­e­cu­tion wit­ness who tes­ti­fied that Higgs ordered him to com­mit the killings lat­er recant­ed his tes­ti­mo­ny and Higgs insist­ed up until the moment of the exe­cu­tion that he was inno­cent of the mur­ders. (Haley Fuchs, U.S. Executes Dustin Higgs for Role in 3 1996 Murders, New York Times, January 16, 2021.)
13.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.)

Source: Pre-2000 cas­es were iden­ti­fied in ​“Death Row USA,” Further research on these and sub­se­quent cas­es is from DPI.