List of people executed in New Mexico: Difference between revisions

A total of 103 executions have been recorded in New Mexico: four during the Spanish Colonial era (1598–1821), none during the Mexican era (1821–1846), 51 during the Territorial era (1846–1913), 20 by the U.S. Military during the Taos Rebellion (1847), 27 between 1913 and 1960, when the death penalty was removed except for the murder of a police officer, and one since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated; it remained until March 18, 2009, when Governor Bill Richardson signed a bill abolishing capital punishment into law after many struggles with the issues in previous weeks. [1] Following this repeal, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White began a campaign to reinstate the practice by referendum.

Ninety-four of the executions were by hanging, seven by electrocution, one by the lethal gas, and one by lethal injection. Two of the hanged, “Black Jack” Ketchum in 1901 and Lucius Hightower in 1916, were accidentally decapitated by the noose due to their weight. The death sentences of five convicts were commuted by Governor Toney Anaya in 1986, on the eve of Thanksgiving.

The following is a list of the 28 executions carried out by the state of New Mexico since 1912. All of those executed were men and all of them were executed for first degree murder.