Ralph Hudson (died January 22, 1963) was the last person to be executed by New Jersey. A native of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Hudson was tried and convicted of stabbing his estranged wife Myrtle Hudson to death as she worked in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, restaurant on December 27, 1960. Hudson had been convicted of assault and battery four months earlier and was sentenced to six months in jail but had been let out for Christmas. Hudson turned down a plea deal for second degree murder and said he deserved to die. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. Hudson was executed by electric chair in the Trenton State Prison. Although other prisoners were sentenced to death by New Jersey after Hudson, no prisoner has been executed since Hudson. The New Jersey Legislature voted to abolish the death penalty in 2007, and the measure was signed into law by Governor Jon S. Corzine. See also List of most recent executions by jurisdiction List of people executed in New Jersey References 1963 deaths 20th-century executions by New Jersey American people convicted of murder Legal history of New Jersey People convicted of murder by New Jersey People executed by New Jersey by electric chair People executed for murder People from Coatesville, Pennsylvania 20th-century executions of American people Executed people from Pennsylvania 1920 births