Albert Fish's Real Name: Albert Fish

Quick answer: He was known in court and in contemporary reports as Albert Fish. Encyclopedia.com's account of the 1935 trial identifies the defendant as Albert Fish, says a White Plains, New York, jury returned a guilty verdict on a murder charge, and dates his execution to January 16, 1936, at Sing Sing prison. History.com, in a January 16 this-day entry, independently reports that he was executed at Sing Sing in 1936. Fuller birth names that appear in weaker sources are not used in the title (Encyclopedia.com; History.com).

Real name and early life

He was known as Albert Fish. Encyclopedia.com's trial article names the defendant as Albert Fish and does not give a birth name or a birth date and place. History.com's execution entry likewise uses Albert Fish and does not supply a confirmed birth name or birth date. Longer forms that circulate in other listings are therefore not used in the title here.

Career highlights

Legal proceedings

Encyclopedia.com summarizes the 1935 trial under the heading Albert Fish Trial: 1935. It lists the crime charged as murder, the place as White Plains, New York, and the dates of trial as March 11–22, 1935. The verdict, it says, was guilty, and the sentence was death, which it describes as automatic. The same article says he was executed at Sing Sing prison on January 16, 1936. History.com, in a this-day entry filed under January 16, independently says Albert Fish was executed at Sing Sing prison in New York in 1936, and that he was sentenced to die after a jury decided his fate. The History.com text does not itself state the calendar date January 16 in the body; that exact date is taken from Encyclopedia.com, with History.com confirming the year, the prison, and the death sentence.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Albert Fish are looking for the defendant in the 1935 White Plains murder trial who was executed at Sing Sing in 1936. This page titles him with the name used in those trial and execution accounts.