Fifty-six people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1960, forty by electrocution, fourteen by gas chamber, one by firing squad, and one by hanging. At least one notable execution was that of kidnapper Caryl Chessman. Connecticut, for its part, would carry out its second-to-last execution. (The last overall would be in 2005).[1]

Robert Johnson became the last person in the United States to be executed for attempted rape. Robert Harmon became the last person in the United States to be executed for an assault in which the victim did not die. He was executed for stabbing a fellow inmate while serving a life sentence for robbery. Harmon wrote to Governor Pat Brown and warned that he would continue to assault or kill fellow inmates unless he was executed. Rejecting an appeal for clemency from the American Civil Liberties Union, Governor Brown noted that Harmon had given a similar warning prior to the stabbing and concluded that he was too dangerous to be kept alive.[2]

List of people executed in the United States in 1960

No. Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method Ref.
At execution At offense Age difference
1 January 8, 1960 Phillip Henry Hamilton 23 21 2 Male Black California Gas chamber [3]
2 Jimmie Lee Jones 20 18
3 David Cooper Nelson 39 35 4 White New Mexico [4]
4 January 14, 1960 Ivory Mason 40 5 Black New York Electrocution [1]
5 January 15, 1960 Homer Bunckley 26 25 1 Georgia [5]
6 January 22, 1960 Leroy Adolph Leick 36 30 6 White Colorado Gas chamber [6]
7 February 1, 1960 Ralph Williams 26 24 2 Black Florida Electrocution [7]
8 February 19, 1960 Robert Lee Lyons 29 26 3 Ohio [1]
9 February 24, 1960 Earl Lewis Steward 41 39 2 White Nevada Gas chamber [8]
10 March 4, 1960 Ernest Albert 34 33 1 Georgia Electrocution [9]
11 March 5, 1960 Junior Lee Williams 30 26 4 Black Texas [10]
12 March 11, 1960 Robert Dwight Fenton 25 23 2 White Arizona Gas chamber [1]
13 March 30, 1960 James Woode Rodgers 49 46 3 Utah Firing squad [11]
14 April 22, 1960 Lawrence Leroy Wade 32 30 2 Black California Gas chamber [12]
15 April 28, 1960 Nearvel Moon 19 18 1 White Texas Electrocution [13]
16 April 29, 1960 Columbus Boggs 27 24 3 Black Alabama [14]
17 May 2, 1960 Caryl Whittier Chessman 38 26 12 White California Gas chamber [15]
18 May 12, 1960 Pablo Vargas 35 33 2 Hispanic New York Electrocution [16]
19 May 13, 1960 Rogers Boone 28 24 4 Black Arkansas [17]
20 James Matthew Moore 22 18
21 James Eugene Hooton 27 26 1 White California Gas chamber [18]
22 May 17, 1960 Joseph Louis Taborsky 36 32 4 Connecticut Electrocution [19]
23 May 19, 1960 Henry Flakes 33 31 2 Black New York [1]
24 Walter T. Green
25 May 20, 1960 James Albert Boyd 22 18 4 Arkansas [17]
26 Willie Henry Byrd 23 19
27 May 26, 1960 Howard Draper Jr. 28 26 2 Texas [20]
28 May 31, 1960 Robert Junior Johnson 29 28 1 South Carolina [21]
29 June 10, 1960 Frank Wilson 53 52 Georgia [22]
30 June 20, 1960 James E. Brooks 29 27 2 Florida [23]
31 June 23, 1960 Willard H. Phillips 44 42 New York [24]
32 June 24, 1960 Herring Davis 40 39 1 Georgia [25]
33 June 25, 1960 John Richard Brodersen 34 33 White Washington Hanging [1]
34 June 30, 1960 Harry Eugene Fuller 31 29 2 Black Virginia Electrocution [26]
35 July 1, 1960 Nathaniel Johnson 25 23 Georgia [27]
36 July 8, 1960 Richard Thomas Cooper 37 35 California Gas chamber [28]
37 George Williams 30 29 1 Texas Electrocution [29]
38 July 15, 1960 Willie Edward Philpot 29 27 2 [30]
39 July 28, 1960 Edward Leon Williams 30 26 4 White Oklahoma [31]
40 August 9, 1960 Robert S. Harmon 27 1 California Gas chamber [32]
41 August 12, 1960 George Moses 30 29 Black Texas Electrocution [33]
42 August 27, 1960 Eusebio Regalado Martinez 27 24 3 Hispanic [34]
43 August 31, 1960 James Spence 32 30 2 White Oklahoma [35]
44 September 7, 1960 George Albert Scott 36 34 California Gas chamber [36]
45 September 16, 1960 Emmett Earl Leggett 23 19 4 Arkansas Electrocution [37]
46 William Frank Nail 28 26 2 [38]
47 October 1, 1960 Joseph Louis Cosby 24 22 Black Ohio [39]
48 October 28, 1960 John Bracey 27 26 1 Arkansas [1]
49 Lawrence Gene Moore 21 19 2
50 November 7, 1960 William James Tines 37 34 3 Tennessee [40]
51 November 10, 1960 Nathaniel Young 42 41 1 Mississippi Gas chamber [41]
52 November 21, 1960 Oscar James Wimis 44 43 Georgia Electrocution [1]
53 November 30, 1960 Samuel Morris Holmes Jr. 22 20 2 Texas [42]
54 December 1, 1960 Ronald Chapman 20 19 1 New York [43]
55 December 15, 1960 Ray Allen Young 34 32 2 White Oklahoma [44]
56 December 28, 1960 Raymond Leslie Cartier 32 29 3 California Gas chamber [45]

Demographics

Gender
Male 56 100%
Female 0 0%
Ethnicity
Black 35 63%
White 19 34%
Hispanic 2 4%
State
California 9 16%
Arkansas 8 14%
Texas 8 14%
Georgia 6 11%
New York 6 11%
Oklahoma 3 5%
Florida 2 4%
Ohio 2 4%
Alabama 1 2%
Arizona 1 2%
Colorado 1 2%
Connecticut 1 2%
Mississippi 1 2%
Nevada 1 2%
New Mexico 1 2%
South Carolina 1 2%
Tennessee 1 2%
Utah 1 2%
Virginia 1 2%
Washington 1 2%
Method
Electrocution 40 71%
Gas chamber 14 25%
Firing squad 1 2%
Hanging 1 2%
Month
January 6 11%
February 3 5%
March 4 7%
April 3 5%
May 12 21%
June 6 11%
July 5 9%
August 4 7%
September 3 5%
October 3 5%
November 4 7%
December 3 5%
Age
10–19 1 2%
20–29 26 46%
30–39 21 38%
40–49 7 13%
50–59 1 2%
Total 56 100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1961 43
1960 56
1959 50
Total 149

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Robber Wins Plea for Death at San Quentin". Progress-Bulletin. August 9, 1960. p. 14. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
  3. ↑ "People v. Jones". FindLaw.
  4. ↑ "Bible Quoting N. M. Killer Dies With Smile on His Face". El Paso Herald-Post via newspapers.com. January 8, 1960. p. 16.
  5. ↑ "Negro Man Sentenced To Death". Ledger-Enquirer via newspapers.com. March 12, 1959. p. 16.
  6. ↑ "Leick v. People". Justia Law.
  7. ↑ "Smith judge gave him big break". Tampa Bay Times. December 5, 1991.
  8. ↑ "Steward v. State". Justia Law.
  9. ↑ "Albert v. State". Justia Law.
  10. ↑ "Junior Lee Williams v. H. E. Moore, Warden, Texas Department of Corrections, 262 F.2d 335 (5th Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
  11. ↑ "Firing Squad Executes Killer At Utah Prison". Meriden Record. March 31, 1960. p. 28.
  12. ↑ "People v. Wade". FindLaw.
  13. ↑ "Moon v. State". Justia Law.
  14. ↑ "Documentation for the execution of Columbus Boggs". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
  15. ↑ "JUSTICE: The Chessman Affair". Time Magazine. March 21, 1960.
  16. ↑ "RAPE KILLER EXECUTED; Pablo Vargas Dies in Chair for Slaying Girl, 16". The New York Times. May 13, 1960.
  17. 1 2 "James M. Moore and Rogers Boone, Appellants, v. Lee Henslee, Superintendent of the Arkansas Statepenitentiary, Appellee". Justia Law.
  18. ↑ "People v. Hooton". Justia Law.
  19. ↑ "State v. Taborsky". Justia Law.
  20. ↑ "Rapist Dies In Chair At Huntsville". Pampa Daily News via newspapers.com. May 26, 1960. p. 6.
  21. ↑ "State v. Johnson". Justia Law.
  22. ↑ "Wilson v. State". Justia Law.
  23. ↑ "Brooks v. State". Justia Law.
  24. ↑ "Willard H. PHILLIPS, petitioner, v. NEW YORK". Legal Information Institute.
  25. ↑ "Davis v. State". Leagle.
  26. ↑ "Fuller v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
  27. ↑ "Johnson v. State". Justia Law.
  28. ↑ "People v. Cooper". Stanford Law School.
  29. ↑ "George Williams Executed Friday". Tyler Morning Telegraph via newspapers.com. July 9, 1960. p. 16.
  30. ↑ "Philpot v. State". Justia Law.
  31. ↑ "Williams v. State". vLex.
  32. ↑ "People v. Harmon". Stanford Law School.
  33. ↑ "Moses v. State". Justia Law.
  34. ↑ "Martinez v. State". Justia Law.
  35. ↑ "Spence v. State". Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
  36. ↑ "People v. Scott". Justia Law.
  37. ↑ "Leggett v. State". Justia Law.
  38. ↑ "Nail v. State". Justia Law.
  39. ↑ "State v. Cosby". vLex.
  40. ↑ "The Electrocution of William Tines". TBA Law Blog. March 1, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Negro Is Executed Thursday". Clarion-Ledger via newspapers.com. November 11, 1960. p. 6.
  42. ↑ "Holmes v. State". Justia Law.
  43. ↑ "Man Executed for Killing". The New York Times. December 2, 1960.
  44. ↑ "Young v. State". Justia Law.
  45. ↑ "People v. Cartier". Stanford Law School.
Preceded by
1959		    List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
1960		 Succeeded by
1961
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_executed_in_the_United_States_in_1960