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Between 1982 and 2017, a total of 113 people were executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia. All were convicted of capital murder; all but one were male. Between 1982 and 1990, all executions were carried out at the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond.
- History of The Death Penalty
- Famous Cases
- Notable Exonerations
- Milestones in Abolition
- Virginia “Firsts”
- Other Interesting Facts
- Virginia Executions in The 20th Century
Executions in Virginia were carried out by hanging for 300 years, until the first electrocution in 1908. The last execution by hanging occurred on April 9, 1909. In the modern era of capital punishment, Virginia has executed a higher percentage of its death-row prisoners than any other state. That high percentage was the combined product of poor de...
“DC sniper”: John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvowere both tried in Virginia for a series of shootings in October 2002. Although the crimes occurred in Maryland and Washington, DC, as well as Virginia, the first trials were held in Virginia, in part, because Virginia allowed the execution of juveniles. Malvo was 17 at the time of the crimes. Muha...
Earl Washingtonwas pardoned in 2000 after DNA evidence excluded him as a perpetrator in the rape and murder for which he had been sentenced to death. Washington is intellectually disabled, and had been coerced into confessing to the crime.
Virginia is the first Southern state to abolish capital punishment. On March 24, 2021, Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation to end the death penalty in Virginia and reduce the sentences of the commonwealth’s two death-row prisoners to life without parole. On February 3, the Virginia Senate had votedalong party lines, 21-17, in favor of abolish...
The first execution in what is now the United States took place in Virginia. Captain George Kendallwas executed in the Jamestown colony in 1608 for spying for Spain.
Virginia has executed more people in its history than any other state. On February 2, 1951, 5 inmates were executed, the largest number of executions carried out on a single day in Virginia. The executions were part of the case of the “Martinsville 7,” seven African American men charged with having raped a white woman. Historians believe that least...
*In the decade of the 1900s, one man listed under murder was executed as an accessory to murder. In the 1910s, one man listed under attempted rape was executed for highway robbery and attempted rape and one listed under armed robbery was executed for highway robbery. In the 1940s, one man listed under rape was executed for rape and robbery. In the ...
Nov 7, 2022 · Leading the nation with 1,390 executions throughout its history, Virginia also executed more enslaved individuals and women than any other state. The state continued heavily using the death penalty in the modern era, beginning in 1976, even adopting draconian procedural rules to short-circuit judicial review and facilitate swifter executions.
In the modern, post-Gregg era, Virginia conducted 113 executions, the third most in the country, behind only Texas and Oklahoma. The last execution in the state was on July 6, 2017 , when William Morva was executed via lethal injection for murder.
Feb 9, 2021 · Once a prolific executioner, Virginia just became the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. Here's what to know.
- Madeleine Carlisle
- 2 min
Jul 1, 2021 · There has been one exoneration for every 8.3 executions in the modern era of the death penalty. A federal jury verdict highlighted one of underappreciated costs of the death penalty — taxpayer liability for wrongful capital prosecutions.
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May 7, 2021 · Susannah Brazier was hanged in 1774 and Mary Snodgrass in 1896, both for murdering a child. Teresa Lewis was executed by lethal injection in 2010 in a murder-for-hire case—despite credible evidence...
