Capital punishment in Hawaii ended in 1957 when it was still an organized incorporated territory of the United States. About 75 people were executed by the government, all for the crime of murder, and all by hanging. Additionally, during and after World War II, three U.S. servicemen were executed by the United States Armed Forces by order of a general court martial.
History Under post-contact common law criminal justice, the penal laws of the Kingdom, Provisional Government, Republic, and U.S. incorporated Territory of Hawaii allowed for the execution of persons convicted of capital crimes. The Espy fileExecutions is the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File Executions by State https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ESPYstate.pdf and historian Joseph Theroux account for about 75 individuals executed between the national and territorial governments, all for murder and all by hanging.
During and a few years after World War II, three U.S. servicemen were executed by the United States Armed Forces by order of a general court martial between 1942 and 1947 at Schofield Barracks, all the cases involving either murder or rape. Two of the executions were by hanging and the third was by firing squad.
In 1957, Hawaii, then still an organized incorporated territory of the United States, abolished the death penalty.
Analysis Hawaii's death penalty has received criticism for almost exclusively targeting racial minorities within the country. Very few executions in Hawaii were of white Americans or Native Hawaiians, to the point where some Hawaiians speculated that the abolition of the death penalty occurred "because there were too many haole (Caucasians) who risked hanging." Statistics show that only one white man, an Irish man named Frank Johnson (alias John O'Connell), was ever executed in the Territory of Hawaii. The rest of the people confirmed to have been executed during that period were of various Asian nationalities, including Filipinos, Chinese people, Japanese people, and Koreans.
Modern use Naeem Williams, a discharged soldier, was tried in a federal civilian court in 2014 for beating his 5-year-old daughter to death. This crime was committed on U.S. government property in 2005 while Williams was on active duty. Prosecutors sought the death penalty in a federal court. However, he was spared execution by the jury and instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury had voted 8-4 in favor of a death sentence for Williams.
List of people executed by the Hawaiian Kingdom, 1795–1894
All 29 of the executions confirmed to have occurred in the Hawaiian Kingdom between its formation in 1795, and its transition to the Territory of Hawaii in 1894. All executions were carried out by hanging. Sources include the ESPY Files and Joseph Theroux's "A Short History of Hawaiian Executions, 1826-1947," as well as, for the first 13, Charles Wilkes's Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, which did not go into specifics about each of the 13 executions but only broke down the number of executions on each Hawaiian island (3 on Kauai, 7 on Oahu, 2 on Maui, and 1 on the island of Hawaii). Sources for some of the executions between 1846 and 1889 include the Annual Report of the Chief Justice, 1858, and the Biennial Report of the Chief Justice, 1882. +Executions by the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1795–1894NameNationalityCrimeExecution DateUnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841UnknownUnknownMurderBetween 1826–1841Kamanawa IINative HawaiianMurder of KamokuikiOctober 20, 1840LonopuakauNative HawaiianAhulikaNative HawaiianMurderAugust 14, 1846 KaomaliNative HawaiianMurderUnknownUnknownMurder1857 (unknown month and day)Pa'akaulaNative HawaiianMurderApril 3, 1867KahaulikoNative HawaiianMurderHo'oleawa'awaNative HawaiianMurder1867-08-22AgneeChineseMurderApril 9, 1869Tin Ah ChinChineseMurderApril 9, 1869KuheleaumokuNative HawaiianMurderMarch 21, 1873KaaukaiNative HawaiianMurderMarch 12, 1875UnknownUnknownMurder1880 (unknown month and day)Po'olua (Poloa)Native HawaiianMurderMay 20, 1881UnknownUnknownMurder1881 (unknown month and day)Ah Hop (Ahapa)ChineseMurderMarch 5, 1889AkanaChineseMurderWoo SauChineseMurderAugust 5, 1889
List of people executed by the Territory of Hawaii, 1894–1959 All 49 of the men confirmed to have been executed by the Territory of Hawaii prior to the pre-statehood abolition of the death penalty in 1957. This list does not include military executions. All executions were carried out by hanging. Sources include the ESPY Files and Joseph Theroux's "A Short History of Hawaiian Executions, 1826-1947." +Executions by the Territory of Hawaii, 1894–1959NameNationalityCrimeDate of executionNoaNative HawaiianMurderDecember 13, 1897Sagata TsunikichiJapaneseMurderMarch 25, 1898YoshidaJapaneseMurderKapeaNative HawaiianMurderApril 11, 1898Tanbara GisaburoJapaneseMurderAugust 14, 1902Jose MirandaPuerto RicanMurderOctober 26, 1904Kang Yong BokKoreanMurderMay 23, 1906Shim Miung OkKoreanWoo Miung SookKoreanJohn O'ConnellIrishMurderMay 31, 1906OkamotoJapaneseMurderLorenzo ColonPuerto RicanMurderJune 28, 1906Yi Hi DamKoreanMurderJune 21, 1909Jozo HigashiJapaneseMurderOctober 28, 1909KanagawaJapaneseMurderFebruary 3, 1910Espridon LahomFilipinoMurderFebruary 14, 1911Eigira NakamuraJapaneseMurderJanuary 16, 1912Miguel ManigbasFilipinoMurderJuly 8, 1913Domingo RodriguesFilipinoMurderHilao BautistaFilipinoMurderSimplicio JavellanaFilipinoMurderApril 7, 1914Pak Sur ChiKoreanMurder-RobberyJune 25, 1915Juan CoronelFilipinoMurderOctober 15, 1915Ponciano GolasteFilipinoMurderFeliciano HiranoFilipinoMurderYee Kelik YoKoreanMurderJanuary 26, 1917Gabriel VerverFilipinoMurderOctober 26, 1917Florencia BoneliaFilipinoMurderC. DojoylongsolFilipinoMurderNovember 16, 1917Antonio GarciaFilipinoMurderNovember 30, 1917Senkichi IchiokaJapaneseMurderJune 2, 1921Cleofe RuizPuerto RicanMurderOctober 26, 1923Narciso ReyesFilipinoMurderMay 27, 1927Marcelo RiveraFilipinoMurderPilipi AusteroFilipinoMurderAugust 12, 1927Lacambra SantiagoFilipinoMurderVicente KagalFilipinoMurderMarch 2, 1929Myles FukunagaJapaneseMurder-KidnappingNovember 19, 1929Lazaro CaliboFilipinoMurderJuly 28, 1932Leoncio EncinoFilipinoMurderJuly 15, 1933Risalino TabioloFilipinoMurderNovember 1, 1933Solomon MahoeNative HawaiianMurderAugust 5, 1937Mateo QuinonesFilipinoMurderMay 27, 1940Mariano FloresFilipinoMurderSeptember 19, 1941Anaclito GagarinFilipinoMurderOctober 24, 1941Adriano DomingoFilipinoMurder-Attempted RapeJanuary 7, 1944
References
Additional reading FindLaw: Hawaii Capital Punishment Laws