Capital Convictions Without a Death Sentence

Name of                                          Date of                                            Date of                                    Defendant                                       Crime             Disposition         Disposition

1. Zimmerlee, Joseph                          09/11/1848         Reversed            01/15/1849
2. Hess, Joseph                                     04/07/1882         Reversed            02/23/1883
3. Long, Clarence                                 12/22/1907         Reversed            05/04/1908
4. Smith, Robert                                   07/05/1908         Reversed            01/30/1909
5. Leach, John                                       07/01/1915         Reversed            05/24/1916
6. Adams, David                                   12/07/1917           Suicide              06/12/1918
7. Johnston, Herbert Dewey              07/02/1918         Reversed            03/20/1920
8. Paller, Theodore                              04/13/1919         Reversed            10/01/1920
9. Rastelli, Daniel                                 12/23/1922         Reversed            12/08/1924
10. Ciccia, Vincenzo                               08/26/1927         Reversed            12/30/1927
11. Delforte, Oreste                                08/26/1927         Reversed            12/30/1927
12. Smith, Robert                                   10/04/1930         Died in Jail         03/14/1931

Author: Bill Lofquist

I am a sociologist and death penalty scholar at the State University of New York at Geneseo. I am also a Pittsburgh native. My present research focuses on the history of the death penalty in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa. This website is dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about all Allegheny County cases in which a death sentence was imposed. Please share any questions or comments, errors or omissions, or other matters of interest related to these cases or to the broader history of the death penalty in Allegheny County. View all posts by Bill Lofquist