Forty-seven people, forty-six male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1962, twenty-nine by electrocution, fifteen by gas chamber, and three by hanging.
The state of Iowa would conduct its final executions before abolishing capital punishment in 1965. New Jersey would carry out its last involuntary execution, with the last overall occurring the following year. Elizabeth Ann Duncan was the last woman executed before the ruling of Furman v. Georgia, and would be the last woman executed in the United States until 1984.
Herbert Bradley became the last person to be executed in the United States for a robbery that did not result in the victim's death. The victim was left permanently crippled from the waist down after being shot six times and beaten with a hammer, but did not die. Rudolph Wright became the last person to be executed in the United States for assault. After murdering a fellow inmate while serving a life sentence, Wright received a life sentence for first degree murder and a mandatory death sentence for assault with a deadly weapon by an inmate serving a life sentence.
Elmo Lee Smith was the last inmate to be executed by the electric chair in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The state would switch to lethal injection in 1990.
List of people executed in the United States in 1962 Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method At execution At offense Age difference 1 January 10, 1962 23 21 2Male White Texas Electrocution 2January 11, 1962 31 29 Black California Gas chamber 3 29 26 3 Texas Electrocution 4 January 17, 1962 24 23 1 California Gas chamber 5 January 29, 1962 36 31 5White PennsylvaniaElectrocution 6March 2, 1962 48 44 4 Kentucky 7 26 26 0 Black Virginia 8 March 7, 1962 24 22 2White CaliforniaGas chamber 9 March 9, 1962 37 35 Colorado 10 March 20, 1962 22 20 TexasElectrocution 11 March 23, 1962 35 27 8 Illinois 12 April 2, 1962 41 38 3 Pennsylvania 13 April 18, 1962 27 25 2Black California Gas chamber 14 April 19, 1962 19 17 TexasElectrocution 15April 20, 1962 27 24 3 WhiteSouth Carolina 16 29 26 Black 17 May 11, 1962 22 21 1 Mississippi Gas chamber 18May 12, 1962 23 21 2FloridaElectrocution 19 28 26 20 May 16, 1962 20 19 1Texas 21 May 23, 1962 24 20 4White 22 May 25, 1962 31 27 Colorado Gas chamber 23 June 1, 1962 29 2 Ohio Electrocution 24 June 6, 1962 30 28 California Gas chamber 25 June 22, 1962 24 22 OhioElectrocution 26 July 3, 1962 27 5 Black New Jersey 27 July 18, 1962 26 24 2White Texas 28 July 24, 1962 29 27 Iowa Hanging 29 July 31, 1962 25 22 3 New Jersey Electrocution 30August 8, 1962 58 54 4 FemaleCaliforniaGas chamber 31 28 253MaleHispanic 32 23 20 33 August 20, 1962 41 40 1 White Oregon 34 August 24, 1962 37 31 6Black IllinoisElectrocution 35 August 31, 1962 42 39 3 Alabama 36 September 4, 1962 30 27 White California Gas chamber 37 September 5, 1962 29 2Black TexasElectrocution 38September 6, 1962 42 39 3 Florida 39 21 20 1White Iowa Hanging 40September 24, 1962 24 21 3FloridaElectrocution 41 25 22 42October 1, 1962 29 28 1 California Gas chamber 43 25 23 2 OklahomaElectrocution 44 October 6, 1962 36 34 Black Texas 45 November 14, 1962 27 25 Georgia 46 November 21, 1962 42 39 3White California Gas chamber 47 November 30, 1962 22 18 4 Kansas Hanging
Demographics Gender Male 46 Female 1 Ethnicity White 27 Black 18 Hispanic 2 State California 11 Texas 9 Florida 5 Colorado 2 Illinois 2 Iowa 2 New Jersey 2 Ohio 2 Pennsylvania 2 South Carolina 2 Alabama 1 Georgia 1 Kansas 1 Kentucky 1 Mississippi 1 Oklahoma 1 Oregon 1 Virginia 1 Method Electrocution 29 Gas chamber 15 Hanging 3 Month January 5 February 0 March 6 April 5 May 6 June 3 July 4 August 6 September 6 October 3 November 3 December 0 Age 10–19 1 20–29 30 30–39 9 40–49 6 50–59 1 Total 47 100%
Executions in recent years Number of executions 1963 21 1962 47 1961 43 Total 111
References