How many people were executed in total?

Twenty people were executed in total during the Salem witch trials. Nineteen were hanged, while Giles Corey died under pressing after refusing to enter a plea in court.

The executions took place in Salem during 1692. Bridget Bishop was hanged on June 10; five people were executed on July 19; five more on August 19; and eight on September 22. These deaths represented only part of the wider crisis, in which more than 200 people were accused and about 30 were convicted.

Giles Corey’s death is the source of a common counting confusion. Corey was not hanged because he refused to plead guilty or not guilty. Authorities placed boards and stones on him in an effort to force a plea, but he continued to refuse. He died on September 19, three days before the final group of hangings.

Several other accused people died in jail from disease and poor conditions, but they are not included in the total of twenty executed. The trials eventually ended after officials and prominent clergy questioned the reliability of spectral evidence, especially testimony about invisible spirits and visions.