Governor Brown on the Death Penalty

“I think people have gotten exquisite due process in the state of California.  It goes on for 20 or 25 years and to think that they’ve missed anything like they have in some other states; I have not seen any evidence of it. None. I know people say, ‘Oh, there have been all these innocent people,’ Well, I have not seen one name on death row that’s been told to me.”

Executed in California

Clarence Ray Allen was convicted of burglary, first-degree murder and conspiracy and sent to prison to serve a life sentence without parole on March 16, 1978.

• While in prison, Allen successfully plotted to kill the people who had informed on him and gotten him prison time.
• Allen was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and sentenced to death on December 2, 1982.
• He was executed on January 17, 2006.

Stanley “Tookie” Williams was a co-founder of Los Angeles notorious “Crips” street gang.

• Convicted of murdering 4 people between 2/28/79 – 3/11/79, Williams continued to run his criminal empire from death row.
• He was executed on December 13, 2005

 

Donald Beardsley was on parole for murder in Missouri when he murdered two young women, Patty Geddling and Stacie Benjamin, on April 25, 1981,

• He was executed on April 21, 2005

 

 

Stephen Wayne Anderson was an escapee from the Utah State Prison when he shot 81-year-old Elizabeth Lyman in the face with a .45 caliber handgun as she lay in her bed on May 26, 1980

• He escaped on Nov. 24, 1979, and had been incarcerated for one count of aggravated burglary in 1971 and three counts of aggravated burglary in 1973.
• While incarcerated at Utah State Prison, Anderson murdered an inmate, assaulted another inmate, and assaulted a correctional officer.
• Anderson also admitted to six other contract killings in Las Vegas, Nevada that happened prior to the crime for which he received a death sentence.
• He was executed on January 29,2002.

Robert Lee Massie pled guilty robbing and murdering Mildred Weiss in her front yard on January 7, 1965.

• He was sentenced to death in 1965, but the sentence was commuted to Life in
• Massie was paroled in 1978 and murdered liquor store owner Boris Naumoff during armed robbery 8 months later.
• He was found guilty and sentenced to death again in 1989.
• On March 27, 2001 Massie was finally executed

Darrell Keith Rich was sentenced to death for four counts of first-degree murder between July-August 1978.

• Annette Fay Edwards, 19, was beaten with a rock after Rich attempted to have sex with her. She died of multiple head injuries.
• Patricia Ann Moore, 17, was driven to a remote area by Rich, where she was raped and then beaten to death with a rock.
• Linda Diane Slavik, 26, was raped there and then driven to a remote area where she was shot and killed.
• Annette Lynn Selix,11, was violently sexually assaulted by Rich who then drove here 30 miles to Johns Creek Bridge and threw her 105 feet to the rocks below.
• He was executed on March 15, 2002.

Manuel Babbitt Brutally raped and beat 78-year-old Leah Schendel in December 1980 before robing her home.

• Schendel’s cause of death was determined to be heart failure caused by stress related to the robbery and beating.
• The following night, Dec. 19, 1980, the offender attempted to rape another Sacramento woman, whom he grabbed and beat unconscious before robbing her of money and jewelry.
• A Sacramento County jury found the offender guilty of first degree murder with special circumstances. He was sentenced to death on July 6, 1982.
• He was executed on May 4, 1999.

Jaturun Siripongs was convicted of robbery, burglary and two counts of first-degree murder of Packovan “Pat” Wattanaporn and Quach Nguyen.

• An Orange County jury sentenced Siripongs to death on April 22, 1983.
• The bodies of Wattanaporn and Nguyen were found in a storeroom of the Wattanaporn’s small retail store, Mrs. Wattanaporn had been strangled to death.
• Nguyen, a store employee, suffered multiple stab wounds to his head, neck, and defensive wounds on his hands and right arm. Police also found a cord tied around his right arm.
• Police arrested Siripongs 2 days after the murders when he tried to purchase a television set with Mrs. Wattanaporn’s credit card
• Siripongs was executed on February 9, 1999.

Thomas Martin Thompson brutally raped and murdered 20-year-old Ginger Lorraine Fleischli by thrusting a knife 2-inches into her ear.

• The offender and his crime partner then fled to Mexico. Mexican authorities located Thompson and returned him to the United States.
• He was convicted of forcible rape and 1^st degree murder with special circumstances on August 17, 1984
• He was executed on July 13, 1998.

Keith Daniel Williams murdered three people on October 8, 1978 after a chance encounter while he was selling goods he had stolen during an armed robbery the night before.

• Miguel and Salvador Vargas were found lying face down in pools of blood in their home. Both had been shot in the back of the head.
• Five days later, Lourdes Meza’s body was discovered in a field some distance from the residence. She had been raped and shot four times.
• When arrested, Williams confessed to the crime and was subsequently convicted of three counts of first degree murder with nine special circumstances.
• Williams was executed on May 3, 1996.

David Edwin Mason beat, strangled and robbed four elderly victims within a nine-month period.

• While being held in county jail awaiting trial, Mason killed his cellmate.
• In addition, Mason was wanted in Butte County for shooting and killing his male lover while the victim was sleeping.
• Mason was executed August 24, 1993.

Robert Alton Harris and his brother, co-defendant Daniel Marcus Harris, abducted two teenage boys. The defendant brutally murdered the boys, and then stole their car on July 5, 1978.

• Later that day they drove the stolen vehicle to a local bank. Donning colored ski masks, the two robbed the bank, netting $2,000 in cash.
• Daniel Harris gave a voluntary statement describing in detail the abduction and the killing of the victims by the defendant. Officers went to the scene of the murder and discovered the two murdered victims.
• Harris was executed on April 21, 1992.