A history of executions in Indiana
Dawn MitchellBetween 1897 and 2009, a total of 92 men have been executed by the State of Indiana for capital offenses. No women have been executed in the state, though Debra Brown was sentenced to death in Indiana and is serving a life sentence in Ohio.
Until 1913, the method for executions in Indiana was hanging. From 1913 to 1995 executions were carried out in the electric chair. Since 1995, lethal injection has been the method. Since 1897, all executions have been carried out before sunrise at the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City.
Below is a listed of those executed, their execution date and the offenses that resulted in their executions.
Matthew Wrinkles, Dec.11, 2009 - Murdered his wife, Debra Jean Wrinkles, his brother-in-law Tony Fulkerson and sister-in-law Natalie Fulkerson in Evansville in 1994.
Michael A. Lambert, June 15, 2007 - Shot Muncie police officer Gregg Winters in the back of the head while Lambert was in the back of a patrol car in 1990.
David L. Woods, May 4, 2007 - Stabbed Juan Placencia, of Garrett, 21 times during a robbery in 1984.
Marvin L. Bieghler, Jan. 27, 2006 - Shot and killed Tommy Miller and his pregnant wife Kimberly in a trailer near Kokomo in a dispute over drugs in 1981.
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Alan L. Matheney, Sept. 27, 2005 - While on an 8-hour furlough from the Pendleton Reformatory in 1989, Matheney drove to Mishawaka, broke into his ex-wife Lisa Bianco’s home and beat her to death with a shotgun.
Kevin A. Conner, July 27, 2005 - Conner killed three friends, Anthony Moore, Steven Wentland and Bruce Voge, during a drunken argument in Indianapolis in 1988.
Gregory Scott Johnson, May 25, 2005 - Beat and stomped to death 82-year-old Ruby Hutslar during a robbery in her Anderson home in 1985.
Bill J. Benefiel, April 21, 2005 - Kidnapped, beat, raped and buried 19-year-old Delores Wells in his Terre Haute home in 1987. Benefiel was also keeping a 17-year-old girl captive in his home for four months.
Donald Ray Wallace, March 10, 2005 - Shot and killed an Evansville family of four during a robbery. Killed were Patrick Gilligan, Teresa Gilligan and their two children, Lisa Gilligan and Gregory Gilligan, because Wallace said he, “could not let the children grow up with the trauma of not having parents.”
Joseph Trueblood, June 12, 2003 - Shot and killed his former girlfriend Susan Bowsher in 1988 because she was returning to her ex-husband. Bowsher was shot three times and her two small children, Ashlyn, 2 and William, 17 months, were shot and buried in a secluded area of Fountain County.
Kevin Lee Hough, May 2, 2003 - Shot and killed his cousin's landlords, Ted Bosler and Gene Rubrake of Fort Wayne, in 1985.
James Lowery, June 27, 2001 - Lowery shot and killed Mark and Gertrude Thompson, both 80 and in declining health, in their West Point home in 1983. Lowery also shot the Thompson’s caretaker, but she survived.
Gerald Bivins, March 14, 2001 - After a two-day crime spree with two friends in 1991, the trio robbed Rev. William Radcliff in a rest stop restroom near Lebanon. After the robbery, Bivins shot Radcliffe to death, “because he wanted to know what it felt like to kill.”
D.H. Fleenor, Dec. 9, 1999 - Killed Bill and Nyla Harlow in their Madison home in December 1982. Fleenor blamed the Harlows for the breakup of their daughter, Sandy.
Robert A.Smith, Jan. 29, 1998 - While an inmate at the Wabash Correctional Institution in Sullivan County in 1995, Smith stabbed fellow inmate Michael Wedmore 27 times with a sharpened putty knife.
Gary Burris, Nov. 20, 1997 - Burris killed Indianapolis cab driver Kenneth Chambers, whose nude body was found face down in an alley near Fall Creek in Indianapolis in 1980. He had been shot in the back of the head.
Tommie Smith, June 18, 1996 - Killed Indianapolis police sergeant Jack Ohrberg during an ambush at an apartment while attempting to serve papers in 1980.
Gregory Resnover, Dec. 8, 1994 - Also charged with the murder of Indianapolis police sergeant Jack Ohrberg in 1980.
William Vandiver, Oct. 16, 1985 - Stabbed his father-in-law, Paul Komyatti Sr., with a fish filet knife over 100 times in his Hammond home in 1983. Vandiver and other members of the family dismembered the body and scattered in trash bags along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
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Steven Judy, March 9, 1981 - In 1979, the body of Terry Chasteen along with the bodies of her three small children, Misty, Stephen and Mark, all under the age of 5, were found in White Lick Creek in Mooresville. Terry had been bound, raped and died of strangulation. The children had been drowned. Judy stated he pulled over to help her with a disabled vehicle.
Richard Kiefer, Jun 15, 1961 - Admitted to the hammer and knife slaying of his wife, Pearl, and their 5-year-old daughter, Dorothy, following an argument in their Fort Wayne home over his spending money on fishing and drinking in 1959.
Robert Watts, Jan. 16, 1951 - Executed for the murder of Lois Burney in her Indianapolis home in 1950.
Franklin Click, Dec. 30, 1950 - In 1949, Fort Wayne police arrested Franklin Click on a charge of raping and almost strangling a housewife. Click then confessed he had killed Anna Kuzeff, Phyllis Conine and Billa Haaga. He was indicted for all three murders but tried and convicted of only the Conine murder.
Thomas Kallas, March 29, 1949 - George Stocks was found cut and stabbed to death in a hotel room in East Chicago in 1947.
Frank Badgley, Feb. 23, 1949 - Convicted in the killing of Hammond police officers John Gerka and Donald Cook in 1948.
Robert Brown, Feb. 23, 1949 - Also convicted in the killing of Hammond police officers John Gerka and Donald Cook in 1948.
Frank Quarles, April 2, 1946 - Convicted in the strangling death of wealthy Evansville widow, Julia Gottman, in 1944.
Cleveland Greathouse, Nov. 26, 1945 - The self-ordained minister was executed for the stabbing death of his common-law wife, Rebecca Coaklin, 41 times in Hammond in 1944.
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Virginius Carter, Feb. 10, 1942 - Executed for killing his father-in-law, John Agrue; mother-in-law, Manta Agrue; brothers-in-law, Leo and William Agrue; and Mary Breedan, a granddaughter of the Agrues, in 1941 in Dearborn County. Carter admitted to all but the killings of Manta Agrue and Mary Breedan.
Milton Hawkins, Nov. 14, 1941 - Executed for the 1940 murder and robbery of Jeffersonville cab driver Edmond Davis.
Adrian Miller, Aug. 16, 1939 - Executed for the 1938 murder and assault of 18-year-old Winchester farm girl, Alice May Girton.
James Swain, June 23, 1939 - Executed for the murder and attempted robbery of Evansville grocer Christ H. Bedenkamp. At 18 years old, Swain was the youngest person sentenced to death in Indiana.
Orelle Easton, June 3, 1939 - Executed for the 1938 killing of Indiana State Policeman W. Raymond Dixon of South Bend.
James Dalhover, Nov. 18, 1938 - Executed for the 1937 murder of Indiana State Police Officer Paul Minneman during an ambush. Dalhover was the “trigger man” for the Brady Gang.
Henry Nolke, Sept. 30, 1938 - Executed for the slaying of his wife, Hazel, and their 22 month-old daughter in Booneville in 1937
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Vurtis Neal, July 8, 1938 - Executed for the 1936 murder of Indianapolis druggist William Bright.
Hugh Marshall, July 8, 1938 - Also executed for his part in the 1936 murder of Indianapolis druggist William Bright.
Robert Shaw, June 28, 1938 - Executed for the 1937 shooting of Lagrange County deputy sheriff Harry Spice following a holdup at a Kendallville grocery.
John Smith, June 1, 1938 - Executed for the killing of Fort Wayne restaurant owner Arlie foster in 1937.
Hebert Hicks, May 6, 1938 - One of four men executed for the slaying of Harry Miller in his summer home near Trenton in 1936. His head and hands were severed and disposed of in a culvert near Eminence, Kentucky. John Polholsky, Frank Williams and William Kuhlman were also executed for their part in the crime.
Monroe White, May 3, 1938 - Executed for the 1938 murder of Gary restaurant owner Michael Pappas during a holdup.
Willis Fuller, Jan. 14, 1938 - Executed for the 1936 murder of Vigo County deputy sheriff Paul Mankin.
Raymond Fortune, Sept. 17, 1937 - The one-time mechanic was electrocuted for the 1936 Fort Wayne “poker party” holdup slaying of Orris Dooken of Wisconsin.
John Polholsky, June 10, 1937 - Executed for his part in the “head and hands” murder.
Frank Williams, June 10, 1937 - Executed for his part in the “head and hands” murder.
William H. Kuhlman, June 10, 1937 - Executed for his part in the “head and hands” murder.
Chester Arkuszewski, March 12, 1937 - Died in the electric chair for the $35 robbery slaying of Ignatz Pazuchosji in Laporte in 1936.
Harry Singer, Dec. 26, 1936 - Executed for the triple murder of a Wabash County farm family in 1936. Singer admitted to shooting the husband and wife and clubbing the daughter on the head and burying their bodies under the cow barn.
Clarence Thomas, Oct. 19, 1936 - Executed for the 1936 murder of Harry Zumbrun during a robbery near a Churubusco filling station.
Gaston Slaughter, April 17, 1936 - Died in the electric chair for the 1934 slaying of Terre Haute police officer Walter Lanfair during a robbery.
Richard Chapman, Oct. 19, 1935 - Executed for the 1934 murder and robbery of Henry Nolte, an Ainsworth farmer. Chapman admitted he robbed Nolte to obtain funds to get married.
Olivett Griggs, June 14, 1935 - Executed for the 1934 Lake County pool room slaying of Vugo Orescan in 1934. An hour before his scheduled execution, Griggs slashed his neck with a safety razor. Guards rushed him to the hospital where his life was saved. He went to the electric chair with 28 stitches in his throat.
Edward Coffin, Oct. 9, 1934 - Sentenced to death for the slaying of Deputy Sheriff Harold Amick in Scott County in 1934.
Richard Perkins, Oct. 1, 1934 - Executed for the fatal shooting of Indianapolis police sergeant Carl Heckman in 1931 during questioning about a series of laundry holdups.
Louis Hamilton, Sept. 28, 1934 - Executed for the 1931 shooting death of Standard Grocery Company magnate Lafayette Jackson in Indianapolis.
Harley Edwards, March 2, 1934 - Hours before his death in the electric chair, Edwards attempted suicide by slashing his wrists with broken glass from his spectacles. Edwards was convicted of murdering his estranged wife, Lillian, in her Mitchell home in 1932.
Charles Witt, Nov. 24, 1933 - Executed for his part as an accomplice in the 1931 murder of Standard Grocery Company magnate Lafayette Jackson in Indianapolis.
Glenn Shustrom, July 28, 1933 - Executed for the murder of Alberts Knight, a 12-year-old Whiting girl. Knight allegedly attacked the girl in her home and killed her to prevent her from telling of the attack.
John E. Moore, March 2, 1933 - Executed for the 1932 murders of his aunt and uncle in Blackford County.
Ulysses Mack, July 1, 1932 - Executed for the hatchet murder of Josephine Odoriczzi, 18, of Tolleston, a suburb of Gary.
Herbert Johnson, Feb. 12, 1932 - Executed for the murder of Bert Frye of Seyberts in LaGrange County in 1932. Johnson never appealed and said he deserved to be executed and he didn’t want “to fool with attorneys.”
Ignacio Saragoza, June 24, 1931 - Executed for the 1930 murder of Michigan City police officer, Charles Glafcke.
James Britt, March 21, 1930 - Electrocuted for the 1930 murder of Sam Goldberg in an East Chicago grocery.
John Hall, April 10, 1928 - Executed for the 1927 murder of South Bend druggist Louis Kreidler during a holdup.
Roosevelt Hicks, July 29, 1927 - Executed for the slaying of his 15-year-old wife, Esther Hicks, in 1925 following a quarrel that began after her return from a dance.
Henry Smith, March 26, 1926 - Electrocuted for the murder of Martin Smith after a quarrel with his wife in Gary.
Peter Jankowski, Jan. 22, 1926 - Executed for the 1925 murder of Andy Hirtzu of Indiana Harbor killed during a robbery attempt.
Edward Stewart, Jan. 16, 1926 - Death by electrocution for the 1925 murder of Ralph Cunningham, an Indianapolis feed store proprietor.
John Koval, Oct. 16, 1925 - The Russian native slashed the throat of his landlady, Margaret Egalowski in Gary in 1924.
Peter Vergolini, Jan. 30, 1925 - Death by electrocution for the 1924 murder of a 9-year-old girl named Annie Tomisch of Gary. Vergolini lured the girl into his auto, drove to a secluded spot, assaulted, strangled and buried her body in a shallow grave in the sand, “because she screamed.”
Harry H. Diamond, Nov. 14, 1924 - Executed for the 1923 shooting death of his wife in East Chicago.
Ben Brooks, Dec. 1, 1922 - Executed for the shooting death of Seymour farmer Amazona Montgomery in a dispute over chicken thefts.
William Donovan, June 1, 1922 - Executed for the 1921 shooting of his wife as she held the couple’s 2-year-old daughter in their Bloomingdale home.
Will Thornton, Dec. 10, 1920 - Electrocuted for the 1920 murder of Nick Kish during a robbery attempt at Indiana Harbor.
William Ray, Aug. 5, 1920 - Executed for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Martha Huff of Indianapolis. Ray enticed the girl into the Eagle Creek bottom and stabbed her to death when she screamed.
Kelly Robinson, Feb. 1, 1916 - Executed for killing Indianapolis farmer John Row, who refused to give Robinson a nickel.
Robert Collier, Oct. 16, 1914 - Executed for the murder of Evansville police officer John Cain in 1914.
John Chirka, Feb. 20, 1914 - Executed for shooting his wife, Mary, in a “drunken frenzy” at their home in Indiana Harbor.
Harry Rasico, Feb. 20, 1914 - Rasico was the first to die in Indiana’s electric chair. Rasico, of Vincennes, killed his wife, Bertha, and 10-month-old baby in 1913 after he had objected to her visiting her sister in Terre Haute.
George Williams, Feb. 8, 1907 - Died by hanging for the shooting death of Indianapolis police officer Edward Pettiford in 1906.
Berkley Smith, July 30, 1905 - Executed for the 1905 murder of his wife, Hattie, in 1904.
Jerry Duggans, July 8, 1904 - Hanged for the 1904 murder of Mrs. Sarah Ramsey and her two children in their Terre Haute home.
Benjamin Springs, July 1, 1904 - Hanged for the stabbing death of Jesse Case of Terre Haute who allegedly was having “improper relations” with his wife.
Edward Hoover, Nov. 13, 1903 - Hanged for the 1903 murder of his father-in-law in Indianapolis.
William Jackson, June 12, 1903 - Hanged for the 1903 death of his friend Allen Blankenship over $3.
Orie Copenhaver, June 12, 1903 - Shot his wife four times in her mother’s home in Indianapolis.
Matthew Alexander, April 16, 1903 - Slashed the neck of George Burke in his Terre Haute home claiming he was under the influence of whiskey.
Louis Russell, Sept. 26, 1902 - Hanged for the death of Perry Strout of Princeton.
Buck Wheeler, June 6, 1902 - Executed for the murder of his son-in-law, Elias Burns, of Boonville, in 1902. Wheeler shot Burns in his tobacco patch then returned to the inside of the house. When Burns stumbled into the home, Wheeler grabbed an ax and nearly severed Burns head.
John Rinkard, Jan. 16, 1902 - Executed for the 1900 shooting death of his wife, Laura, and turned the gun on himself in an attempt to kill himself. He failed in the effort.
Joseph D. Keith, Nov. 15, 1901 - Executed for the 1901 murder of Nora Kifer of Warrick County. Moments before he was hanged, he left a letter confessing his guilt.
Henry Jones, May 7, 1897 - Executed for the murder of fellow convict, Homer Thomas, in the prison chapel at the Michigan City prison. Jones was incarcerated for a murder at an Indianapolis saloon.
Follow IndyStar Visuals Manager and RetroIndy writer Dawn Mitchell on Twitter: @dawn_mitchell61.