Vincent Guarino – white, age 24
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: a jury
Date of crime: 3/7/09
Prosecution’s case/defense response: In an effort to be accepted into a white supremacist gang, Guarino and his brother took the victim, Chad Rowe, from his home at knifepoint, put him in a pickup, drove to a different location and shot him 3 times. The prosecution presented evidence that Guarino had bragged to his mother from jail that he didn’t like the Jewish man in the next cell and would stomp on the man’s head until it exploded like a grape.
Sources: Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Newsletter Dec. 2013.
Aaron Gunches — white, age 23 (re-sentence after appellate reversal)
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: a jury
Date of crime: 11/02
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Gunches and his girlfriend took the girlfriend’s ex-husband Ted Price into the desert where Gunches shot him three times in the torso and once in the back of the head. Some days later while fleeing a police officer, Gunches shot the officer twice, but one of the bullets hit the officer’s bulletproof vest and another deflected off his wristwatch, and the officer sustained only minor injuries. Gunches’ first death sentence was reversed for the inclusion of an inapplicable aggravating circumstance.
Sources: Arizona Dep’t. of Corrections website; Arizona Republic 6/17/10.
Darrell Ketchner – white, age 51
Sentenced to death in Mohave County, Arizona
By: a jury
Date of crime: 7/4/09
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Ketchner murdered Ariel Allison and assaulted and attempted to murder her mother, Jennifer Allison, while burglarizing their home. Jennifer Allison, Ketchner’s former girlfriend, had a protection order against Ketchner when he broke into the Allison home and stabbed the two women. Ketchner shot Jennifer in the head after she fled outside and then went back inside and stabbed Ariel 8 times in the front, back and head. Ariel died in her mother’s bedroom. Jennifer survived both attacks but suffered some physical disabilities. The defense argued against the death penalty claiming the murder was not premeditated but a result of a sudden volatile argument.
Sources: Mohave Valley Daily News (Bullhead City, Ariz.) 3/8/13, 3/24/13.
Joel Escalante Orozco – Latino, age 26
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: a jury
Date of Crime: 2001
Prosecution’s case/Defense Response: Orozco was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a Phoenix woman, Maria Garza-Rivera. She was found in her apartment. Orozco fled to Mexico after killing her. He was arrested 6 years later.
Sources: AP Alert 3/1/13.