The U.S. Army is reportedly preparing to carry out its first execution of soldiers since 1961. The plan would apply to servicemembers currently on military death row.
The four inmates currently on U.S. military death row (housed at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) are:
Background: Former Army Specialist (cook) with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina.
Conviction: Sentenced to death in 1988 by court-martial for multiple murders, rapes, and related crimes (including abducting, raping, sodomizing, and murdering women in the Fayetteville area in 1986–1987). He had already pled guilty in state court and received life sentences there.
Status: Longest-serving on military death row. President George W. Bush approved his execution in 2008, but it has been stayed.
Background: Former Army Sergeant.
Conviction: Sentenced to death in 2005 for the premeditated murder of two officers (Army Captain Christopher Seifert and Air Force Major Gregory Stone) and attempted murder of 14 others. He carried out a grenade and shooting attack on his own unit at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (a “fragging incident).
Status: Appeals upheld; Supreme Court petitions denied.
Background: Former Master Sergeant (worked on parachutes with the 82nd Airborne).
Conviction: Sentenced to death in 2010 by military court-martial for the 1985 triple murder (rape and murder of Kathryn Eastburn and two of her young daughters in North Carolina). He had been acquitted in a prior state trial in 1989, but DNA evidence later implicated him. The military recalled him to active duty for retrial (double jeopardy does not apply across jurisdictions in this context).
Status: Appeals exhausted in recent years.
Background: Former Army Major and psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
Conviction: Sentenced to death in 2013 for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a premeditated attack at the Soldier Readiness Center. He acted as his own attorney during the trial and cited his opposition to U.S. military actions and jihadist motives.
Status: Appeals upheld; final legal challenges rejected around 2025. President Trump has been urged to approve execution.
All four were convicted of premeditated murder (or felony murder) with aggravating factors under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. No executions have been carried out by the U.S. military since 1961, and any would require personal presidential approval. The Army’s recent “Operation Resolute Justice” planning document prepares for potential lethal injection executions (likely at a federal facility in Terre Haute, Indiana) if approved.
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