The History And Evolution Of Capital Punishment In Montana

Montana, a state where the death penalty is rare but still enforced, has seen three individuals put to death since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States.

Each case represents a sobering chapter in the state's legal history, reflecting the gravity of the crimes committed and the consequences they entail.

From the mid-1990s until the present, Montana executed people who were ordered to death by hanging. The last person to be hanged in Montana did so in 1943. Montana began using lethal injections in 1983.

In 1997, Montana made lethal injection the only way to put someone to death. In 1997, Montana Code Annotated § 46-19-103(3) was changed to remove the phrase "hanging the defendant by the neck until he is dead or, at the election of the defendant."

Lethal injection is still the only legal way to kill someone in Montana.  No other state, aside from Montana, requires the use of “an ultra-fast-acting barbiturate” for an execution by lethal injection.

Even though Montana was allowed to use deadly gas as a way to put people to death in 1983, they have never actually done so.

From 1608 to 1976, Montana executed 71 people by hanging. Since 1976 only three individuals have been executed in the state.

Get our free mobile app

Duncan McKenzie Jr

Duncan McKenzie Jr. was the first person to die by lethal injection in Montana on May 10, 1995.  McKenzie Jr. was sentenced to death for deliberate homicide and aggravated kidnapping. He was 43 years old when he was executed.

Terry Langford

Terry Langford was the second person to die by lethal injection in Montana on February 24, 1998.Langford was sentenced to death for two counts of deliberate homicide and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. He was 31 years old when he was executed.

David Dawson

David  Dawson was the third person to die by lethal injection in Montana on August 11, 2006. Dawson was sentenced to death for three counts of deliberate homicide and three counts of aggravated kidnapping. He was 49 years old when he was executed.