Shad Armstrong – white, age 25 (re-sentence)
Sentenced to death in Pima County, Arizona
By: A jury
Date of crime: February 1998
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Armstrong was convicted in 2000 for killing his sister and her fiancé. Prosecutors said the motive was because Armstrong feared his sister would turn him in for crimes he committed in Oklahoma, and also wanted to steal her money. Defense argued that the motive did not include money, therefore making him ineligible for the death penalty. The sentence was overturned after the United States Supreme Court ruled that jurors, not judges should decide sentencing in capital murder cases. The jury only deliberated for 90 minutes before deciding Armstrong was eligible for parole, and four hours to decide on death penalty.
Prosecutor(s): Susan Eazer Defense lawyer(s): Dan Cooper, Julie Duvall
Sources: Arizona Daily Star 11/1/06 (2006 WLNR 19544309), 11/8/06 (2006 WLNR 19893244), 11/15/06 (2006 WLNR 20248775), 11/16/06 (2006 WLNR 20310366)
Phillip Bocharski – white, age 33 (re-sentence after an appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Yavapai County, Arizona
By: A judge, after a recommendation of death by a jury
Date of crime: May 1995
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Bocharski stabbed to death 84-year-old Freeda Brown in her trailer, which was next to his campground. Bocharski then told a friend that he had killed an old lady for the few hundred dollars she had. He also said that she had arthritis and wanted to put her out of her misery. The only mitigating factor defense presented was the abusive and traumatic childhood Bocharski endured.
Prosecutor(s): Arthur Markham Defense lawyer(s): J. Douglas McVay (on appeal)
Sources: www.azcentral.com, www.azcorrections.gov, 22 P.3d 43
Christopher Allen Hargrave – white, age 20
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: A jury
Date of crime: May 2002
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hargrave had been fired from his job at Jack in the Box a few days prior to crime. He wore his uniform to the restaurant and received admittance because he stated he was called into work. He, along with accomplice Steven Boggs Jr., shot and killed the three employees after locking them in the freezer. Prosecutors introduced evidence that Hargrave and Boggs had founded a white supremacist militia group. All three victims were minorities. Hargrave admitted to robbery, but said Boggs committed the murders. Boggs received the death penalty for the murders in 2005.
Prosecutor(s): Robert Shutts Defense lawyer(s): Gerald Gavin
Sources: Arizona Daily Star 2/7/05; Arizona Republic 4/6/05, 2/22/06
Alvie Kyles – black, age 28 (re-sentence appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Yuma County, Arizona
By: A jury
Date of Crime: 2/89
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Kiles had been on a drug binge. He went to his girlfriend Valerie Gunnell’s house to get more money for drugs. They argued and she slapped him. He went out to his car, got a tire iron, and beat Valerie and her two children—Shemaeah Gunnell (age 5) and LeCresha Kirkland (age 9 months)—to death. He put the two children’s bodies in plastic bags and threw them in the Colorado River. One was later found in Mexico, and the other was never found.
Prosecutor(s): Dave Powell Defense Lawyer(s):
Sources: US State News 6/15/06 (2006 WLNR 11315092).
Cite: State v. Kiles, 175 Ariz 358, 857 P.2d 1212 (Ariz. Sup. Ct. 1993)
Shawn Patrick Lynch – white, age 38
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: A jury
Date of Crime: 3/25/01
Prosecution’s case/defense response: During a home invasion robbery, Lynch and a cohort tied James Panzarella to a chair and slashed his throat. The first penalty phase jury could not reach a verdict. The State elected to retry the penalty phase and obtained a death verdict.
Prosecutor(s): Defense Lawyer(s):
Sources: The Arizona Republic 3/28/01 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 1/9/04 (LEXIS USPAPR file), 5/10/06 (LEXIS USPAPR file).
Darrel Pandeli – white, age unknown (re-sentence after appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By:
Date of Crime: 9/24/93
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Pandeli killed Holly Iler after what he claimed was an abortive sexual encounter. He slit her throat and mutilated her body. After being captured and interrogated for that murder, he confessed to killing Holly Humphreys more than a year before the Iler murder. He was tried separately for the murder of Humphreys, and convicted of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to death for Iler’s murder, but the sentence was reversed. He was sentenced to death again in a new sentencing proceeding.
Prosecutor(s): Defense Lawyer(s):
Sources: State v. Pandeli, 200 Ariz. 365, 26 P.3d 1136 (Ariz. Sup. Ct. 2001)