Vincent Lee Accardo – Latino, age 49

Sentenced in Yuma County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: December 9, 1997

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Accardo was hired by Kay Cloud to kill her husband Kenneth Cloud (age 55). Accardo shot Cloud in the neck while Cloud was sitting in his truck outside of a restaurant after having dinner.

Prosecutor(s): Frank Collins, Paul Ahler

Defense lawyer(s): William Michael Smith

Sources: U.S. State News 7/9/08 (2008 WLNR 12908138); AP Alert 7/9/08 – AZ 23:52:50; www.yumasun.com/news/verdict-42610-cloud-guilty.html; www.adc.state.az.us/inmate_datasearch/results.aspx?InmateNumber=232539&LastName=ACCARDOVINCENT%20&SearchType=SearchInet

  
Leroy D. Cropper – white, age 33 (resentence after appellate reversal)

Sentenced in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: March 7, 1997

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Cropper stabbed an Arizona corrections officer, Brent Lumley, to death while serving as an inmate. The initial death sentence came in 2000 when Arizona law permitted judges to impose sentences on murderers convicted by a jury. In 2003, after the U.S. Supreme Court found this law to be unconstitutional, Cropper petitioned to have his sentence set aside. In effect, Cropper was granted a new sentencing by a jury. A jury resentenced Cropper to death in 2008.

Prosecutor(s):

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: Arizona Daily Star 9/6/03 (2003 WLNR 6701989); www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/12/20080512lumley0512.html
  

Clarence Wayne Dixon – Native American, age 22

Sentenced in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: January 7, 1978

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Dixon raped, strangled and stabbed Deana Bowdoin (age 21) in her apartment. Dixon was indicted in November 2002 after police found new DNA evidence that connected him to the murder case. Dixon was serving a life sentence in an Arizona state prison for a 1986 sexual assault conviction.

Prosecutor(s): Juan Martinez

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: AP Alert 1/26/08 – AZ 17:31:21; AP Alert 1/25/08 – AZ 19:34:52; AP Alert 1/25/08 – AZ 23:58:53; www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/0125abrk-dixonsentence0125.html; www.phoenixmag.com/lifestyle/valley-news/200806/update--dixon-sentenced-to-death/

  
Aaron Brian Gunches – white, age 30

Sentenced in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: December 2002

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Gunches kidnapped and shot Ted Price execution-style in December 2002. On January 15, 2003, Gunches shot Department of Public Safety Officer Robert Flannery twice during a traffic stop. Flannery escaped with minor injuries. Gunches was sentenced to death for the murder and kidnapping of Ted Price.

Prosecutor(s):

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/0215abrk-gunchessentence021508.html; copshop.freedomblogging.com/2008/02/15/man-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-east-of-mesa/

  
Gary Wayne Snelling – white, age 42

Sentenced in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: July 18, 1996

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Snelling strangled Adele Curtis (age 66). DNA evidence as well as Snelling’s fingerprints and palm print were used to connect him to the murder.

Prosecutor(s):

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: www.620ktar.com/index.php?nid=6&sid=863832; www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/06/12/20080612deathverdict0612.html
  

Joshua Villalobos – Latino, age 21

Sentenced in Maricopa County, Arizona

By: a jury

Date of crime: January 3, 2004

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Villalobos beat Ashley Molina (age 5), his girlfriend’s daughter, to death. Authorities said Villalobos beat the child to discipline her for hitting her half-sister. At one point, the child stopped breathing and Villalobos claimed her attempted to administer CPR but did not seek medical attention. A day later, Villalobos and Linda Verdugo (age 25), the child’s mother, brought her to the hospital, but authorities said the child had been dead for hours.

Prosecutor(s):

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: AP Alert 4/18/08 – AZ 08:04:12; www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2008/04/17/20080417sentence0417.html; www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2008/04/18/news/doc4809051240213534008804.txt; www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=809712&r=1