This is a list of people executed in New Jersey. No one has been executed by the state of New Jersey since 1963, although a statute reinstating capital punishment for murder had been in force from 1982 until 2007. New Jersey executed a total of 361 people from its inception to the abolition of the death penalty on December 17, 2007. The first person executed was a slave known to history only as Tom for a rape in 1690. The last execution was of Ralph Hudson for murder on January 22, 1963. Of those executions, 187 occurred in the 20th century. The last execution for a crime other than murder (or conspiracy to murder) was of Andrew Clark in 1872 for rape. The last woman executed was Margaret Meierhoffer in 1881. Except for a dozen slaves executed by burning in the early 18th century, executions in New Jersey were by hanging until 1906 and electrocution since then, with the exception of an execution by hanging in 1909.
In 2006, New Jersey lawmakers drafted a moratorium on executions while a task force studied the fairness and cost of the death sentence. New Jersey had 10 people on Death Row at the time. On December 10, 2007, the New Jersey Senate passed bill to repeal the current death penalty statute, and replaced it with life imprisonment without parole. On Dec. 13, 2007, the state's General Assembly adopted the same law. Governor Corzine signed the bill into law on December 17, 2007.
John Jonston – April 30, 1850John Lyons – August 4, 1904Joseph Miller – April 14, 1905Arthur Laster – April 14, 1905Angelo Cerciello; November 10, 1914 (died of fright 6 hours before execution) George Gares – February 7, 1922 - the electrode to the condemned man's leg came loose during the execution.Frank Taylor – July 15, 1924 this execution is notable because it was one of four performed on this dateEdward Allen – July 15, 1924Tony Briglia – July 15, 1924Anthony Staub – July 22, 1924Anthony Bagdanowitz – July 15, 1924Daniel Genese – December 15, 1925James Lynch – November 30, 1926Peter Doro – January 11, 1927Paul Feursten – May 17, 1927Salvadore Merra – August 5, 1927Louis Capozzi – November 18, 1927Joseph (Big Joe) Juliano – November 18, 1927 (cousin to Nick Juliano) Find a Grave LinkNick (Little Joe) Juliano – November 18, 1927 (cousin to Joseph Juliano)Christopher Barone – November 18, 1927George Yarrow – June 1, 1928David Ware – May 31, 1929Peter Kudzinowski – December 21, 1929Joseph Marrazzo – January 10, 1930Frank Pannatiere – January 10, 1930Henry Colin Campbell (Close) – April 17, 1930Joseph Rado – July 22, 1930 – this execution is notable because it was one of four performed on this dateJohn Murray – July 22, 1930Louis Malanga – July 22, 1930Victor Giampiertro – July 22, 1930Arthur Cort – December 29, 1930 – this execution is notable because it was one of three performed on this dateWilliam Gimbel – December 29, 1930Joseph Calabrese – December 29, 1930Daniel Grosso – April 10, 1931Charles Fithian – December 31, 1931 (age 23; escaped following sentencing, captured in Troy NY)Bruno Richard Hauptmann – April 3, 1936 – this execution is notable for being part of the Lindbergh kidnapping case.Orby Hethcoat (aka Ramon Cota) – January 22, 1938Buford Tanismore – April 4, 1950 Find a Grave LinkHoward Auld – May 27, 1951Clarence Smith – May 13, 1952Frederick Dunk – May 13, 1952Robert Jellison – May 13, 1952Irving Peterson – August 26, 1952Theodore Walker – July 27, 1954James Beard – August 17, 1954Frank Roscus – January 4, 1955Eugene Monahan – January 11, 1955Felipe Rios – May 3, 1955Joaquin Rodriguez – May 3, 1955Jose Cruz – May 3, 1955Alfred Stokes – September 2, 1955Harry Wise – September 2, 1955Albert Wise – September 2, 1955John Henry Tune – August 21, 1956Fred Sturdivant – July 3, 1962Joseph Ernst – July 31, 1962Ralph Hudson – January 22, 1963A complete list of 15,269 executions in the United States prior to the reintroduction of capital punishment in the 1970s was compiled by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla, and was made available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
