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
- APRIL 14, 2009ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. A jury re-sentenced Scott A. Lehr to death
USA - Arizona. A jury re-sentenced Scott A. Lehr to death
- APRIL 13, 2009ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA POLICE OFFICER GETS DEATH PENALTY IN MURDER OF DRIVER
a policeman who shot another driver dead in China's southwest Yunnan Province on February 13, 2009, while off duty, following a minor traffic dispute, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
- APRIL 10, 2009MalawiDEATH PENALTY
MALAWIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER GETS SUSPENDED DEATH PENALTY IN S CHINA CITY
a Malawian man received the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for trafficking more than 1,140 grams of heroin into China. The Intermediate People's Court of Guilin, a city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, handed down the sentence. M
- APRIL 9, 2009MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: TWO POLICEMEN GET DEATH SENTENCE IN MURDER TRIAL
a Malaysian court sentenced two policemen to death for murdering a Mongolian
- APRIL 8, 2009ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FOUR TIBETANS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STARTING FIRES DURING UNREST IN LHASA
the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court sentenced two Tibetans to death and two to death with a two-year reprieve for their role in the unrest in Lhasa in March 2008.
- APRIL 8, 2009IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
USA - Illinois. Nathson Fields, 55, black, was acquitted today of a double homicide for which he spent eleven and a half years on death row
USA - Illinois. Nathson Fields, 55, black, was acquitted today of a double homicide for which he spent eleven and a half years on death row
- APRIL 8, 2009SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Singapore's High Court sentenced two brothers to death for murdering an elderly woman during a robbery, a court official and news reports said. Ismil Kadar...
- APRIL 7, 2009MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Low Kian Boon, 24, was sentenced to death by Judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram...
Low Kian Boon, 24, was sentenced to death by Judge Datuk Gopal Sri Ram...
APRIL 7, 2009Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTYGAZA: FOUR PALESTINIANS GET DEATH PENALTY BY HAMAS COURT
the Military Court in Gaza sentenced four Palestinians, two from al-Sheja’eya neighborhood and two from al-Tufah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, to death in absentia.
- APRIL 6, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: COURT REJECTS RETRIAL APPEAL BY EX-POLICE OFFICER INVOLVED IN MURDER
a Japanese district court rejected an appeal for retrial filed by a former police officer whose death penalty was finalised over the kidnapping and murder of two people between 1986 and 1989, sources close to the matter said
- APRIL 6, 2009EcuadorDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ecuador/Florida. Ecuador is demanding the return of one of their citizens, Nelson Ivan Serrano Saenz, from Florida’s death row
USA - Ecuador/Florida. Ecuador is demanding the return of one of their citizens, Nelson Ivan Serrano Saenz, from Florida’s death row
APRIL 6, 2009IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR SERIAL KILLER
an Indonesian man who confessed to murdering 11 people was sentenced to death.
- APRIL 3, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR KILLING WIFE, DAUGHTER
in India, a Kottayam district judge sentenced Shanu, alias Shanavas, 32, of Paippad, to death for murdering his wife, Sareena, alias Lovely, 26, and daughter Ameesha
- APRIL 2, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: INDIAN ON CHINESE DEATH ROW GETS REPRIEVE
an Indian man found guilty in China of possessing narcotics had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
- APRIL 2, 2009FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A Polk County jury has recommended 9-3 the death penalty for Joshua Lee Altersberger
USA - Florida. A Polk County jury has recommended 9-3 the death penalty for Joshua Lee Altersberger
- MARCH 31, 2009TunisiaDEATH PENALTY
TUNISIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER AND RAPE
two men were sentenced to death in Tunisia after being found guilty of the murder and rape of a student.
- MARCH 31, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 2 GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
two people were sentenced to death by Mahadevagowda, the First Fast Track Court judge in Hassan, India, for the murder of five people in Valagarahalli village of Alur taluk on January 26, 2002.
- MARCH 31, 2009United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A federal jury has recommended death for Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr.
USA - Florida. A federal jury has recommended death for Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr.
- MARCH 31, 2009ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. A Pima County jury today decided that Christopher Payne should receive the death penalty
USA - Arizona. A Pima County jury today decided that Christopher Payne should receive the death penalty
- MARCH 29, 2009PakistanDEATH PENALTY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: COURT UPHOLDS FIRST DEATH SENTENCE SINCE 2005
the Dubai Court of Appeal in the United Arab Emirates upheld the death sentence of a
- MARCH 28, 2009PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: ONE AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE IN MURDER CASE
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Iteffaq Abbasi awarded the death sentence to an accused and acquitted another in a murder case in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Muhammad Nouman and Muhammad Irfan were charged with killing Muhammad Kamran on August
- MARCH 27, 2009MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: MAN LOSES DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL
the five-man Malaysian Federal Court unanimously dismissed the appeal of Ahmad Najib Aris, 34. He was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Canny Ong on June 14, 2003.
- MARCH 27, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPANESE MAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING ACQUAINTANCE IN THAILAND
a Japanese man was sentenced to death for killing a Japanese acquaintance in Thailand in December 2007.
- MARCH 26, 2009ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA MILK SCANDAL TERMS UPHELD
A court in north China's Hebei Province upheld two death sentences, a suspended death verdict and other convictions in the country's tainted milk scandal.
- MARCH 24, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FEMALE SERIAL KILLER 'CYANIDE MALLIKA' GETS DEATH SENTENCE
female serial killer "Cyanide Mallika," charged with murdering five elderly women over the last eight years for gain, was awarded the death sentence by a Fast Track Court in Tumkur, India.
- MARCH 23, 2009IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC FREES DOC ON DEATH ROW FOR MURDER
a doctor sentenced to death in India for murdering a fellow doctor was acquitted of all charges by the Bombay High Court after spending six months on death row.
- MARCH 23, 2009Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
SRI LANKA: KONESWARAM TEMPLE CHIEF PRIEST SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Chief Priest of the Sri Lankan Thirukoneswaram temple in Trincomalee, Siva Godaja Kurukkal Veeshakeshwar Assar, was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife by strangulation.
MARCH 23, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: DEATH PENALTY IN ISRAEL SPY CASE
a court in Yemen sentenced a man to death for allegedly offering to spy for Israel.
- MARCH 20, 2009CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. A jury has recommended death for Donte McDaniel
USA - California. A jury has recommended death for Donte McDaniel
- MARCH 20, 2009TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury resentenced Raymond DeLeon Martinez to death
USA - Texas. A jury resentenced Raymond DeLeon Martinez to death