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List of executioners

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This is a list of people who have acted as official executioners.

Contents

Monsieur d'Alger: The Executioners of the French Republic

In 1870 the Republic of France abolished all local executioners and named the executioner of Alger, Antoine Rasseneux, Éxécuteur des Arrêts Criminels en Algérie, which became France's official description of the executioner of Algeria's occupation. From there on there would be one only executioner to carry out death sentences for entire Algeria. Since the colony's executioner had obligatorily to live in Alger, people soon started to refer to him as to the "Monsieur d'Alger", "The Mister from Alger". At the occasion of his nomination, Rasseneux could choose four among France's and Algeria's former local executioners to be his aides.

Brazil

After 1808, during the Portuguese-Brazilian Kingdom (1808-1822) and the Empire (1822-1889), when Brazil's States were still called "Provinces" and the currency was called "Reis", Brazil had factually abolished torture but was a busy death penalty country.
Method of execution was public hanging by an ultra-short drop of approximately 90 cm (2' 9 11/2"), with the executioner, after having activated the trap door or pushed the convict, according to the gallows's structure, climbed a ladder and launched himself rope downwards, hitting on the convict's shoulders with his weight.
Executioners generally were selected among convicts of capital crimes who had their death sentences stayed for indefinite terms or even commuted for live without parole, and who in exchange for their stays or commutations had to carry out the executions ordered by law. Executioners were, whenever possible, selected from among slaves convicted for a capital crime. And except for the province of Rio Grande do Norte, executioners had obligatorily to be of African descent.
As stayed or commuted convicts, executioners consequently lived as inmates in the prisons of the respective towns where they were based. When an execution was to be carried out elsewhere in his area, the executioner would be transported to the place of execution in chains and sleep in the local prison; after an attempt of murder against Fortunato José in 1834, prisons started separating the executioners from other inmates.
In the province of Rio Grande do Norte, the executioner had always to be the convict scheduled to die next after an execution, so that province's last execution had to be carried out by a firing squad, after the necessary emergency change of execution protocol.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, after Independence September 7, 1822 there were also free executioners of African descent who having to travel around, were reached by couriers with execution orders.
Executioners, also when slaves, were paid for their executions; at the example of the province of Minas Gerais, we can establish payment was between 4$000 and 12$000 (4 Mil-Reis to 12 Mil-Reis) per execution.
The last execution of a free convict in Brazil was that of José Pereira de Sousa October 30, 1861 in Santa Luzia (nowadays Luziânia), GO. The last execution at all under law in Brazil was that of the slave Francisco April 28, 1876 in Pilar, AL.
Brazil abolished capital punishment officially with the Proclamation of the Republic November 15, 1889, and by law with its first Republican Constitution of 1891 and Penal Code of September 22, 1892.

Bas-Rhin (67)

Andlau
Benfeld
Bernardswiller

see: Andlau

Bischwiller
Bouquenom

see: Sarre-Union

Bouxwiller
Brumath
Châtenois
Dambach-la-Ville
Diemeringen
Elsenheim

see: Ohnenheim

Epfig
Erstein

see: Epfig

Fleckenstein (Lembach)

see: Memmelshoffen

Fouchy
Geispolsheim
Goersdorf
Gougenheim
Gumbrechtshoffen

see: Gundershoffen

Gundershoffen
Haguenau
Herrlisheim
Hochfelden
Ingwiller
La Petite-Pierre
Lalaye
Lauterbourg
Maisonsgoutte
Marckolsheim
Marmoutier
Memmelshoffen
Molsheim
Mommenheim
Nordhouse
Obernai
Ohnenheim
Otterswiller

see: Saverne

Petersbach

see: La Petite-Pierre

Reichshoffen

see: Gundershoffen

Reutenbourg
Riedheim

see: Bouxwiller

Sarre-Union
Saverne
Schopperten

see: Sarre-Union

Sélestat
Strasbourg
Surbourg
Villé
Wasselonne
Westhoffen

see: Wasselonne

Weyersheim
Wissembourg

Haut-Rhin (68)

Altkirch
Biesheim
Colmar
Ensisheim
Ferrette
Landser
Masevaux
Morschwiller-le-Bas

see: Mulhouse

Mulhouse
Ribeauvillé
Rouffach
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines

see: Ribeauvillé

Thann
Traubach (Traubach-le-Bas and Traubach-le-Haut)
Vieux-Thann

see: Thann

Zimmerbach

Dordogne (24)

Périgueux

Gironde (33)

Bordeaux

Landes (40)

Dax

Lot-et-Garonne (47)

Agen

Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)

Bayonne
Pau

Allier (03)

Moulins

Cantal (15)

Aurillac
Saint-Flour

Haute-Loire (43)

Le-Puy-en-Velay

Puy-de-Dôme (63)

Clermont-Ferrand (former Clermont-d'Auvergne)
Riom

Calvados (14)

Bayeux
Caen
Falaise
Lisieux
Orbec
Pont-l'Évêque
Vire

Manche (50)

Avranches
Coutances
Saint-Lô

Orne (61)

Alençon
Bellême

Mortagne-au-Perche

Mortagne-au-Perche

Côte-d'Or (21)

Beaune
Dijon
Semur-en-Auxois

Nièvre (58)

Nevers

Saône-et-Loire (71)

Autun
Châlon-sur-Saône
Mâcon

Yonne (89)

Auxerre
Sens

Côtes-d'Armor (22; Côtes-du-Nord before 1990)

Saint-Brieuc

Finistère (29)

Quimper

Ille-et-Vilaine (35)

Rennes

Morbihan (56)

Vannes

Cher (18)

Bourges
Vierzon

Eure-et-Loir (28)

Bonneval
Chartres
Châteaudun

Indre (36)

Châteauroux
Issoudun

Indre-et-Loire (37)

Amboise
Chinon
L'Île-Bouchard

see: Chinon

Loches
Tours

Loir-et-Cher (41)

Blois
Romorantin-Lanthenay
Vendôme

Loiret (45)

Gien
Montargis
Orléans

Ardennes (08)

Sedan

Aube (10)

Troyes

Marne (51)

Châlons-en-Champagne
Chatillon-sur-Marne
Épernay
Reims
Vitry-le-François

Haute-Marne (52)

Bourmont
Chaumont
Langres

Corse

With a four-year delay in 1875 also Corsica was integrated into the area of the executioner of the republic's activity; see: Monsieur de Paris For the different department numbers, before 1976 Corsica used to be one department only and was codenumbered with 20 by then.

Corse-du-Sud (2A)

Ajaccio

Haute-Corse (2B)

Bastia

Doubs (25)

Besançon
Blamont
Montbéliard

Jura (39)

Dole
Lons-le-Saunier

Haute-Saône (70)

Vesoul

Territoire de Belfort (90)

Belfort
Faverois
Grandvillars
Montreux

Eure (27)

Évreux
Gisors
Pont-Audemer

Seine-Maritime (76)

Caudebec-en-Caux
Dièppe
Rouen

Paris (75)

Prévoté de l'Hôtel du Roi
Prévoté de Paris

Seine-et-Marne (77)

Meaux
Melun
Provins

Yvelines (78)

Mantes
Meulan

see: Mantes

Montfort-l'Amaury
Versailles (Prévoté de l'Hôtel du Roi)
Prévôté de Versailles

Essonne (91)

Dourdan

see: Étampes

Étampes
La Ferté-Alais

see: Étampes

Hauts-de-Seine 92

No local executioner known so far

Seine-Saint-Denis (93)

No local executioner known so far

Val-de-Marne (94)

No local executioner known so far

Val-d'Oise (95)

Pontoise

Aude (11)

Carcassonne
Castelnaudary
Limoux
Narbonne

Gard (30)

Nîmes

Hérault (34)

Montpellier

Lozère (48)

Mende

Pyrénées-Orientales (66)

Perpignan

Corrèze (19)

Brive-la-Gaillarde
Tulle

Creuse (23)

Guéret

Haute-Vienne 87

Limoges

Meurthe-et-Moselle (54)

Baccarat
Badonviller
Bauzemont
Bayon
Blâmont
Briey
Conflans-en-Jarnisy
Deneuvre

see: Baccarat

Domjevin

see: Bauzemont

Einville-au-Jard
Foug
Gerbéviller
Haraucourt

see: Einville-au-Jard

Harbouey

see: Blâmont

Longuyon
Longwy
Lunéville
Nancy
Nomény

see: Pont-à-Mousson

Norroy-le-Sec
Pont-à-Mousson
Réchicourt-la-Petite

see: Blâmont

Saint-Clément

see: Baccarat

Saint-Nicolas-de-Port
Sancy
Thézey-Saint-Martin

see: Delme at Moselle (57)

Thiaucourt (Thiaucourt-Regniéville)

see: Pont-à-Mousson

Toul
Ville-sur-Yron

see: Conflans-en-Jarnisy

Villers-la-Montagne

Meuse (55)

Arrancy-sur-Crusne

see: Longuyon at Meurthe-et-Moselle (54)

Avioth
Bar-le-Duc
Billy-sous-Mangiennes
Commercy
Damvillers
Étain
Fresnes-en-Woëvre
Herméville-en-Woëvre
Marville
Montmédy
Saint-Mihiel
Verdun

Moselle (57)

Ancerville
Angevillers
Ay-sur-Moselle

see: Buding

Bambiderstroff

see: Courcelles-sur-Nied

Béchy
Beux

see: Béchy

Bitche

see: Schorbach

Boulay
Buding
Budling

see: Buding

Château-Salins
Château-Voué

see: Dieuze

Courcelles-Chaussy
Courcelles-sur-Nied
Delme
Dieuze
Ébersviller

see: Hombourg-Budange

Elzange

see: Rodemack

Faulquemont
Fénétrange

see: Niederstinzel

Filstroff
Forbach
Freistroff
Gorze
Grostenquin
Hérange
Hombourg-Budange
Insming
Jallaucourt
Kédange-sur-Canner
Kirsch-lès-Sierck
Lixheim
Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold
Lorquin
Louvigny
Lutzelbourg
Metz
Montenach
Morhange
Niederstinzel
Phalsbourg
Porcelette
Prévocourt
Puttelange-aux-Lacs
Rodemack
Saint-Avold
Sarralbe
Sarrebourg
Sarreguemines
Schorbach
Sierck-les-Bains
Thionville
Tincry
Tragny
Vatimont
Vic-sur-Seille

Vosges (88)

Bruyères
Charmes
Châtel-sur-Moselle
Châtenois
Darney
Dompaire
Épinal
La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois
Mirecourt
Neufchâteau
Rambervillers
Remiremont
Saint-Dié
Saint-Nabord

Ariège (09)

Foix

Aveyron (12)

Rodez

Haute-Garonne (31)

Toulouse

Gers (32)

Auch
Lectoure

Lot (46)

Cahors

Hautes-Pyrénées (65)

Tarbes

Tarn (81)

Albi

Tarn-et-Garonne (82)

Montauban

Nord (59)

Cambrai
Douai
Lille
Maubeuge
Valenciennes

Pas-de-Calais (62)

Arras
Boulogne
Calais
Saint-Omer

Loire-Atlantique (44; before 1957 Loire Inférieure)

Nantes

Maine-et-Loire (49)

Angers
Saumur

Mayenne (53)

Château-Gontier
Laval

Sarthe (72)

La Flèche
Le Mans

Vendée (85)

Fontenay-le-Comte

Aisne (02)

Laon
Soissons

Oise (60)

Beauvais
Clermont

(former Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, also called Clermont-en-France)

Compiègne
Crépy-en-Valois
Noyon
Senlis

Somme (80)

Amiens

Charente (16)

Angoulême

Charente-Maritime (17)

La Rochelle
Rochefort
Saintes

Deux-Sèvres (79)

Niort
Saint-Maixent-l'École
Thouars

Vienne (86)

Civray
Loudun
Poitiers

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04)

Digne

Hautes-Alpes (05)

Gap

Alpes-Maritimes (06)

Nice

Bouches-du-Rhône (13)

Aix-en-Provence

Var (83)

Draguignan

Vaucluse (84)

Carpentras

Ain (01)

Bourg-en-Bresse

Ardèche (07)

Privas

Drôme (26)

Valence

Isère (38)

Grenoble

Loire (42)

Feurs
Montbrison

Rhône (69)

Lyon

Savoie (73)

Chambéry

Monsieur de Paris: The Executioners of the French Republic

In 1870 the Republic of France abolished all local executioners and named the executioner of Paris, Jean-François Heidenreich, Exécuteur des Arrêts Criminels, which became France's official description of the executioner's occupation. From then on there would be only one executioner to carry out death sentences for all of France except Corsica which would follow in 1875. As the Republic's executioner was required to live in Paris, people soon started to refer to him as "Monsieur de Paris", "The Mister from Paris". At the occasion of his nomination, Heidenreich could choose four among France's former local executioners to be his aides.

Monsieur de Cayenne: The Executioners of the French Republic

Cayenne Central Prison never used its own guillotine.. All death sentences of convicts and locally condemned prisoners were conducted at Saint-Laurent.

Monsieur de Saint-Laurent: The Executioners of the Bagne

All executioners of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni were Bagne inmates themselves.

Wittstock

Hans ? 1537

West Germany (1949 to 1951/53)

Except for Western Berlin where the Allied did not validate the new German constitution, West Germany had abolished capital punishment May 23, 1949. For West Berlin, the death penalty would still continue in law until January 20, 1951. Despite at least one executioner continued nominated, no death sentences or executions ordered by German courts in that period have been reported so far.

India

  • Shivlal Mullick (West Bengal)
  • Nata Mullick (son of Shivlal Mullick) (West Bengal)
  • Mahadeb Mullick (son of Nata Mullick) (West Bengal) (nominated, but not confirmed if he actually ever took the "job")
  • Prabhat Mullick (grandson of Nata Mullik) (West Bengal)
  • Lakshman Majeera (hanged Bhagat Singh)
  • Mammu Singh (son of Lakshman Majeera) (Meerut, Uttar Pradesh)
  • Pawan Singh (son of Mammu Singh) (Maharashtra)
  • Arjun Bhika Jadhav (Maharashtra)
  • Janardhan Pillai (Kerala)
  • "Jallad" Ahmadullah Khan (Uttar Pradesh) 1965-
  • Kalu Kumar (hanged one of the two Indira Gandhi murder convicts)
  • Balkrishna Valekar (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Pawan Kumar (2011 -till date )
  • Monsieur de la Bagne: The Executioners of the Bagne

    All executioners of New Caledonia's Bagne were inmates themselves.

    Pakistan

    In Pakistan, executioners have obligatorily to be Christians.

    United States of America

    John C. Woods (1911–1950). Hangman for the Third Army in WWII. He was one of the hangmen who executed Nazi war criminals.

    Joseph Malta (1918–1999) was the hangman who, with John C. Woods, executed the top 10 leaders of the Third Reich in Nuremberg on October 16, 1946, for crimes against humanity.

    Arkansas

    During the first part of the 20th century, operators of the electric chair were known as "State electricians".

    California

    Daniel Vasquez – warden of San Quentin prison who served as executioner at the gas chamber executions of Robert Alton Harris in 1992 and the execution of David Mason the following year.

    Before Statehood

  • Sheriff John Ludlow on November 15, 1792 (today's Hamilton County)
  • Adams County

  • Sheriff John Ellison, Jr. on December 10, 1808
  • Cuyahoga County

  • Sheriff Samuel S. Baldwin and Deputy Sheriff & Coroner Levi Johnson on June 26, 1812
  • Sheriff Miller S. Spangler on June 1, 1855
  • Sheriff Felix Nicola on February 9 and 10, 1866 and August 10, 1866
  • Sheriff John Frazee on February 4 or 13, 1869 and April 25, 1872
  • Sheriff Pardon B. Smith on April 29, 1874
  • Sheriff A. P. Winslow on June 22, 1876
  • Sheriff John Wilcox on February 13, 1879
  • Fairfield County

  • Sheriff Daniel Kishler and Coroner John Heck on October 14, 1836
  • Franklin County

  • Sheriff William Domigan and Coroner A. W. Reader on February 9, 1844 (a double execution, including the first reported execution of a woman in Ohio's history)
  • Sheriff Silas W. Park and Coroner Elias Gaver on December 17, 1858
  • Gallia County

  • Sheriff Samuel Holcomb on September 9, 1817
  • Ross County

  • Sheriff Jeremiah McLene and Coroner Benjamin Urmston on August 3, 1804
  • Portage County

  • Sheriff Asa Burroughs on November 30, 1816
  • State Executioners with the Gallows

  • Warden Isaac Peetry between 1885-1886, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden E.G. Coffin between 1886-1890, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden B.F. Dyer between 1890-1892, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden C.C. James between 1892-1896, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden E.G. Coffin between 1896-1897, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • State Executioners with the Electric Chair

  • Warden E.G. Coffin between 1897-1900, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden W.N. Darby between 1900-1903, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden E. A. Hershey between 1903-1904, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden O.B. Gould between 1904-1909, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden T.H.B. Jones between 1909-1913, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden D.E. Thomas between 1913-1935, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden J.C. Woodard between 1935-1939, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden F.D. Henderson between 1939-1948, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden R.W. Alvis between 1948-1959, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden B.C. Sacks between 1959-1961, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Warden E.L. Maxwell between 1961-1963, required by state law to be the executioner of death sentences
  • Oklahoma

  • S.C. Treadwell and Mack Treadwell between 1909 and 1919
  • Rich Owens between 1918 and 1947
  • Mike Mayfield, corrections officer between 1962 and 1966
  • Pennsylvania

  • Zoe Himes in 1911 (a secretary of Clarion County, PA, Court House, she reportedly executed Vincent Voycheck on June 1, 1911)
  • Frank Wilson electrical industry superintendent from Pittsburgh area who served as executioner between 1949 and 1953 at Rockview Prison.
  • Texas

  • Joe Byrd – Captain of the guard at the Walls Unit who served as executioner between 1936 and 1964. The nearby prison cemetery, where unclaimed remains of executed inmates are buried by the state, is named in his honor.
  • W. James "Jim" Estelle – Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) between 1972 and 1983. Was designated executioner under policy developed by the TDCJ in 1976. Was the individual pushing the drugs into the IV lines at the December, 1982 execution of Charlie Brooks, the first inmate in the United States to be executed by lethal injection.
  • References

    List of executioners Wikipedia