Death sentences
Archive theme
A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 8, 2017CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Judge Mac Fisher sentenced Lorraine Hunter, 62, Black, to death.
USA - California. Judge Mac Fisher sentenced Lorraine Hunter, 62, Black, to death.
DECEMBER 5, 2017KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE
An Eldoret court sentenced to death a 24-year-old man after he was found guilty of robbery with violence.
DECEMBER 5, 2017SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT HANDS DEATH SENTENCE TO SHABAAB MILITANT, JAIL TERMS TO 3 OTHERS
One Al-Shabaab militant was sentenced to death while three others were condemned to serve jail terms after a military court found them guilty of involvement in hotel explosions within the city.
- DECEMBER 4, 2017DEATH PENALTY
LAWSUIT: NEBRASKA VOTE TO RESTORE DEATH PENALTY DOES NOT APPLY TO THOSE PREVIOUSLY SENTENCED TO DEATH
The ACLU of Nebraska, the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, and the law firm O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state's eleven death-sentenced prisoners seeking to bar Nebraska "from carrying out any executions or taking steps to
- DECEMBER 4, 2017NebraskaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nebraska. Lawsuit: Nebraska Vote to Restore Death Penalty Does Not Apply to Those Previously Sentenced to Death.
USA - Nebraska. Lawsuit: Nebraska Vote to Restore Death Penalty Does Not Apply to Those Previously Sentenced to Death.
DECEMBER 4, 2017PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING ESTRANGED LOVER WITH ACID
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan sentenced a 20-year-old woman to death for killing her 'estranged' lover by throwing acid on him.
- DECEMBER 1, 2017BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
Cab driver murderers sentenced to hang
1 December 2017: Chief Justice Mr Maruping Dibotelo has Friday (December 01) sentenced two men accused of the murder of a Deluxe Cabs driver to death by hanging after he declared that he could not established any extenuating circumstances in the matter.
- DECEMBER 1, 2017CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Judge Stephen Gallon imposed a death sentence on Raymond Alex Barrera
USA - California. Judge Stephen Gallon imposed a death sentence on Raymond Alex Barrera
- NOVEMBER 29, 2017Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
Two sentenced to death for killing OSD Officer
29th November, 2017: the High Court of Sierra Leone presided over by Justice Monfred Momoh Sesay, sentenced two men to death by hanging, after convicting them on conspiracy and murder.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2017United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UAE: CHILD KILLER GETS DEATH SENTENCE
The Abu Dhabi court has ordered death penalty for the killer of 11-year-old boy, Azan, bringing justice to the family. The court of First Instance handed the execution order to the 33-year-old Pakistan man.
NOVEMBER 28, 2017EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MILITARY COURT SENTENCES 11 ANSAR BEIT AL-MAQDIS MEMBERS TO DEATH
An Egyptian military court issued a preliminary death sentence against 11 members of the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis terrorist group who were convicted of involvement in a series of attacks committed in 2014 and 2015, including the 2015 bombing of the Italian co
- NOVEMBER 27, 2017BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR 139 SOLDIERS OVER MASSACRE
A Bangladesh court upheld the death penalty for 139 soldiers over their role in a "brutal and barbaric" mutiny in which dozens of top army officers were massacred.
- NOVEMBER 25, 2017EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: CAIRO COURT SENTENCES TO DEATH 7 ELEMENTS OF MATROUH CELL
The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced to death seven terrorists of the Daesh-affiliated "Matrouh cell" on charges of beheading 21 Egyptian Copts working in Libya in February 2015.
- NOVEMBER 23, 2017BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
Joseph Poni Tselayarona sentenced to death
23 November 2017: death sentence confirmed by the Court of Appeal on Tselayarona for murder.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2017BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 1971 WAR CRIMES IN GAIBANDHA
A Dhaka court convicted six alleged war criminals, including former Gaibandha lawmaker Abu Saleh Muhammad AbdulAziz Miah alias Ghoramara Aziz, and sentenced them to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2017BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: MAN TO WALK GALLOWS, 2 GET LIFE TERM FOR MURDER
A court in Gazipur sentenced a man to death and two others to life term imprisonment for killing a girl in 2015.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2017AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN: MAN ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BALKH
A court in Balkh has sentenced a man accused of murdering of his wife to death.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2017VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Virginia. Ex Death-Row Prisoner Joseph M. Giarratano Gets Parole
USA - Virginia. Ex Death-Row Prisoner Joseph M. Giarratano Gets Parole
- NOVEMBER 19, 2017DEATH PENALTY
CALIFORNIA (USA): MURDEROUS CULT LEADER CHARLES MANSON DIES AT
Charles Manson has died. He was 83 years old.
NOVEMBER 19, 2017Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR POSSESSING 147 GRAMMES OF HEROIN
The Colombo High Court sentenced to death L. Chaminda Jagath, a father of two from Boralesgamuwa for possessing 147 grammes of heroin.
- NOVEMBER 19, 2017CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Charles Manson has died.
USA - California. Charles Manson has died.
- NOVEMBER 16, 2017DEATH PENALTY
ARIZONA (USA): JOHN ALLEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN THE 2011 DEATH OF A 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
John Allen was sentenced to death in the 2011 death of a 10-year-old girl who was locked in a storage box in sweltering summer heat.
- NOVEMBER 16, 2017ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. John Allen was sentenced to death
USA - Arizona. John Allen was sentenced to death
- NOVEMBER 15, 2017TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Billy Joel Tracy to death
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Billy Joel Tracy to death
- NOVEMBER 15, 2017TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced William Hudson to death
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced William Hudson to death
NOVEMBER 15, 2017EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: COURT ISSUES PRELIMINARY DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING COPTIC PRIEST
A South Giza criminal court issued a preliminary death sentence against a man convicted of killing Coptic Orthodox priest Samaan Shehata in Cairo last October.
- NOVEMBER 14, 2017EgyptDEATH PENALTY
14 EGYPTIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING SOLDIER
An Egyptian military court has referred the files of 14 defendants to the country’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, seeking his approval of their execution.
NOVEMBER 10, 2017PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANTI-TERRORISM COURT COURT SENTENCED THREE BALOCH IDPS TO DEATH BY HANGING
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) sentenced three Baloch Internally Displaced Persons to death alleging that the men were involved in blowing up gas pipelines and belonged to a banned Baloch militant organisation.
- NOVEMBER 9, 2017ZimbabweDEATH PENALTY
ZIMBABWE: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN WHO BEHEADED WIFE
A Binga man who chopped off his wife’s head and hid it in a cardboard box following domestic dispute, was sentenced to death.
- NOVEMBER 9, 2017NebraskaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nebraska. The attorney general has chosen Jose Sandoval as the next to die, after a 20-year hiatus in executions
USA - Nebraska. The attorney general has chosen Jose Sandoval as the next to die, after a 20-year hiatus in executions