List of people executed in Michigan

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The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Michigan; which abolished the death penalty in 1847. The one person executed after 1847 was executed by the United States strictly within federal jurisdiction. Thus, it was not performed within the legal boundaries of Michigan as a matter of law.

French and British colonial periods[edit]

Name Date of execution Crime Method Race
French jurisdiction
Folle-Avoine November 29, 1683 Murder Shot Native American
Unknown November 29, 1683 Murder Shot Native American
Pierre Berge (or Boucher) dit La Tulipe November 26, 1705 Assault Hanging (in Montreal)[1] White
Bartellemy Pichon dit La Roze November 7, 1707 Desertion Hanging[2] White
British jurisdiction
Unknown female slave (whose owner's name was Clapham) April 1763 Murder Hanging Native American
Michael Dué late 1760s Murder Hanging[3] White
Joseph Hecker December 1775 Murder Hanging[4] White
Jean Baptiste Contincineau March 26, 1777 Burglary Hanging[5] White
Ann Wyley March 26, 1777 Burglary Hanging[5] Black

Under U.S. jurisdiction (Michigan Territory)[edit]

Name Date of execution Crime Method Race
Buhnah 1819 Murder Unknown method Native American
Ketauka December 27, 1821 Murder Hanging[6] Native American
Kewaubis December 27, 1821 Murder Hanging[6] Native American
James Brown February 1, 1830 Murder Hanging White
Stephen Simmons[7][8] September 24, 1830 Murder Hanging[9] White
Wau-Bau-Ne-Me-Mee July 1836 Murder Hanging Native American

Federal executions in Michigan[edit]

Note: Nobody has ever been executed under authority of the State of Michigan. One person has been executed by the United States for a federal crime committed in Michigan. The execution was carried out at Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, in York Charter Township near the Village of Milan.

Name Date of execution Crime Method Race
Anthony Chebatoris July 8, 1938 Murder Hanging White

As a matter of jurisdictional law, this execution did not take place in Michigan per se because it was carried out by the United States government at a US government-owned facility, located in but not subject to the State of Michigan's jurisdiction.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • "ESPYstate.pdf-pages 166–167" (PDF). (1.67 MB)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ See Burton p. 164; Tulipe was a drummer in the company of Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac who assaulted a 12-year-old girl. He was convicted and executed in Quebec.
  2. ^ See Burton pp. 164–165
  3. ^ See Burton p. 142; Dué was arrested for murdering a man in Detroit and was tried, convicted and executed in Montreal.
  4. ^ See Caitlin p. 68. Burton p. 194 mentions the execution of a person named "Ellers" in December 1775.
  5. ^ a b See Burton pp. 193–195 for an account of Contincineau's trial. The presiding judge Philip Dejean was subsequently indicted for the murder of Contincineau. According to the account in Burton, Contincineau's accomplice, the slave woman Ann Wyley, was freed by Dejean on the condition that she act as executioner on Contincineau. Caitlin p. 68 notes that Dejean later went back on his offer and had Wiley hanged.
  6. ^ a b See Caitlin p. 262 for a description of the execution of Ketauka and Kewaubis
  7. ^ David G. Chardavoyne>A Hanging in Detroit: Stephen Gifford Simmons and the Last Execution Under Michigan Law
  8. ^ Robert M. Bohm Deathquest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment 2011 1437734936 Page 9 "Two of the latter three executed were Native Americans, and both were executed in 1821. The other, Stephen Simmons, was executed in 1830, 7 years before Michigan gained statehood. Simmons in a drunken rage killed his wife in Detroit."
  9. ^ For a detailed account of Simmons' execution, see Caitlin "Michigan's Last Infliction of Capital Punishment" pp. 289–293
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