Donald DeMag

Donald DeMag (died 8 December 1954) was the last person executed by Vermont.

Prior to his death sentence, DeMag had been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of murder. In 1952, DeMag and fellow-prisoner Francis Blair escaped from the state prison in Windsor by crashing a laundry truck through the front gates.

While on the run, DeMag and Blair had attacked Elizabeth Weatherup and her husband in Springfield, Vermont. DeMag and Blair beat the couple with a lead pipe as they attempted to rob them. Weatherup died of her injuries. Two days after their escape, DeMag and Blair were recaptured and tried for first-degree murder. They were both convicted and sentenced to death by electric chair.

Blair and DeMag were both executed by electric chair. Blair was executed on 8 February 1954. DeMag was executed on 8 December.

Although DeMag was the last person executed by Vermont, he was not the last person to be sentenced to death by a Vermont court. In 1957, Lionel Goyet was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted six months later and Goyet was pardoned and released in 1969. The death penalty was abolished by Vermont in 1965.

See also

• Capital punishment in Vermont
• List of most recent executions by jurisdiction

References

• John Stark Bellamy II (2007). Vintage Vermont Villainies: True Tales of Murder & Mystery from the 19th and 20th Centuries (Woodstock, Vt.: Countryman) ISBN 0881507490
• Daniel Allen Hearn (2008). Legal Executions in New England: A comprehensive reference, 1623–1960 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland) ISBN 0786432489
• Wilson Ring, "Death penalty comes full circle in Vt.", Rutland Herald, 2005-05-01

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Name	Demag, Donald
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Date of death	8 December 1954
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