Montana

Timeline

1943 — Montana carries out the last execution by hanging.

1988 — David Cameron Keith is granted clemency by Montana Governor Ted Schwinden.

1995 — Montana adopts lethal injection as the sole method of execution. Duncan McKenzie is the first person to be executed by lethal injection instead of hanging in Montana.

2006 — Montana carries out the execution of David Thomas Dawson by lethal injection. Mr. Dawson is the last person to be executed in Montana.

2011 — The Montana state Senate passes a bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life without parole.

2012 — Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock strikes down Montana’s three-drug lethal injection protocol as it differs from the two-drug execution protocol spelled out in the law, which Judge Sherlock said would increase the likelihood of error and confusion in the process.

2015 — Montana District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock rules that the state of Montana is prohibited from using pentobarbital in its lethal injection protocol until the statute authorizing lethal injection is modified in conformance with this decision. As a result, executions in Montana will continue to be on hold indefinitely.

2021 — Montana legislators propose a measure to broaden the types of drugs that can be used in lethal injections. The legislation would amend the state’s execution law to remove the requirement that Montana must use an “ultra-fast-acting barbiturate.”

2023 — Montana Senate votes down a bill that aims to revise the state’s lethal injection procedure to secure a restart in executions.

Notable Cases

The execution of Duncan McKenzie by lethal injection in 1995 was the first execution by a method other than hanging in Montana.

Notable Commutations/Clemencies

In 1988, David Cameron Keith was granted clemency by Gov. Ted Schwinden. Reasons reportedly included Keith’s partial paralysis and blindness, remorse, religious conversion, and the possibility that he may have shot the victim as a reflex action.

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

Bills to abolish the death penalty passed the Montana Senate in 2009 and 2011, but were defeated in the state House Judiciary committee each time.

Other Interesting Facts

Hanging was the method of execution in Montana until 1995 (lethal gas was added in 1983 but never used), although the last hanging in Montana occurred in 1943. In 1995, Montana adopted lethal injection as the sole method of execution.

Montana was one of the last states to move executions from local authorities to centralized state administration.

Resources

• Department of Corrections
• Montana Abolition Coalition
• Montana County Attorneys Association
• Public defender’s office
• Victims’ services

Montana Execution Totals Since 1976