Notorious People On Death Row

As of April 2015, there were just over 3,000 people on death row in United States prisons. Although their stories may have been publicised at the time of their arrest, many are unfamiliar to the public, their crimes forgotten.

Now, of this 3,000 (which may have fluctuated since due to natural death, exonerations, appeals, sentence changes and new convictions) more than 98% of them are men. On average, most of those convicted have been waiting more than seven years for their sentences to be carried out, with the average time between conviction and execution being nearly 12 years. In the United States, there are 31 states that uphold the death penalty, with the most common method of carrying out the sentence being lethal injection, followed by electrocution, gas chamber, hanging and firing squad.

But who are these people, who have committed so heinous a crime as to have their own lives forfeited as punishment under the law? Let’s look at the most notorious members of this criminal group.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, aged 23, Boston Bombings

Certainly the most high profile criminal to be given the death penalty of late, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced on the 15th of May 2015. His crimes were using, and conspiring to use, a weapon of mass destruction that resulted in death, as well as the malicious destruction of property resulting in death. Along with his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed before being apprehended, they were responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings, which resulted in 6 deaths and around 280 injured. He claimed that the attack was a punishment for the actions of the American army overseas, and was sentenced to die by lethal injection after being found guilty.

Mark Goudeau, aged 51, Baseline Killer

The first serial killer on this list, Mark Goudeau is a serial killer and rapist who became known to the public between 2005 and 2006 as the Baseline Killer. The name came from the location where he committed his first series of rapes, which was Baseline Road in Phoenix, Arizona. Beginning in August of 2005, Goudeau’s rampage lasted June 2006, and he was finally arrested in September of the same year. During that time he is believed to have killed nine people, as well as sexually assaulted 15 women and girls. Goudeau was also charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping. He was linked with DNA evidence to the crimes, and was sentenced to death on 30th November 2011.

Charles Ng, aged 54, Serial Killer

Between 1983 and 1985, Charles Ng is believed to have killed between 11 and 25 people with his friend and accomplice Leonard Lake. Born in Hong Kong, he had a challenging upbringing and was a proven kleptomaniac. He moved to the United States in 1978 on a student visa, where he met Lake. After some issues with the law, Lake invited Ng to a cabin he was renting in Wilseyville, California. Here, Lake had custom-built a torture dungeon, where over the next two years the men killed a number of people, including babies and small children. Eventually, Ng addiction to theft was the end of them, but Lake swallowed cyanide pills and died before he could be charged. Ng fled to Canada, but was eventually extradited and is currently facing charges for 11 murders, although authorities believe he was responsible for many more.

Lisa Marie Montgomery, aged 47, Murder and Kidnapping

On December 16th 2004, Lisa M Montgomery went to the home of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a pregnant woman she had met in an online forum devoted to dog breeds. Stinnett believed that Montgomery was pregnant as well, in fact she had been keeping an email correspondence with the women for weeks. In reality, Montgomery was not pregnant, but she did want a baby. So, she murdered Bobbie Jo, cut her premature baby daughter from her body, kidnapped her and tried to pass her along as her own. Amazingly the girl survived, and although her defense tried to argue delusions, she was sentenced to death in October of 2007.

Russell Peeler Jr., aged 43, Murders

Russell Peeler Jr. is an interesting addition to this list because of the three murders he has been charged with, authorities are certain he did not participate in two. But, he did order his younger brother to pull the trigger on eight-year-old Leroy “B.J” Brown. and his mother Karen Clarke. Leroy was a key witness in another murder that Peeler was indicated in, that involved Rudolf Snead Jr. Police claim that Peeler wounded Snead in a drive-by shooting, which Leroy witnessed, before catching up with him later and gunning him down. Peeler denies being involved in the killings, but has a history of violence and criminal intent, including a heavy involvement with drugs and his own gang.

Lemaricus Davidson, aged 34, Rape, Torture and Murder

Lemaricus Davidson, along with several other men, kidnapped and murdered a young couple in 2007. He was the leader of the group of men, who were thought to be bored when they decided to kidnap 23-year-old Christopher Newsom Jr., and 21-year-old Channon Christian. The victims were treated savagely, with Newsom being heavily beaten before being shot several times and set on fire. His girlfriend was also beaten violently for several hours. She was sexually tortured and rapes, before being force-fed bleach and being scrubbed with caustic chemicals. Davidson and his friends bound and gagged her, before stuffing her in a trash bag where she suffocated. He was the only one of the group sentenced to death in 2009.

Randy Kraft, aged 70, Serial Killer

Although Randy Kraft is the oldest notorious death row inmate on this list, he is far from harmless. Between 1971 and 1983 Kraft is thought to have killed between 16 and 67 victims, all men between the ages of 13 and 35. Many of his victims were enlisted marines, and many were lured to him with promises of a ride or alcohol before being incapacitated, raped, tortured and murdered. Kraft originally became known as the Freeway Killer, as his victims were often found on freeways after being dumped. However, after his arrest police discovered a coded ‘scorecard’ of 61 entries indicating when he had murdered, after which point he became known as the Scorecard Killer. He was arrested after being pulled over for drink driving with one of his victim’s bodies in the passenger seat, and was sentenced to death in 2000. He remains on death row, and it seems unlikely the sentence will be carried out.

Joseph E. Duncan III, aged 52, Serial Killer and Sex Offender

It’s no surprise that Joseph E. Duncan III made this list. He made headlines in 2005 when he kidnapped and murdered members of the Groene family from Idaho. A vicious psychopath and diagnosed ‘malignant narcissist’, Duncan claimed to have already raped 13 boys before he was 16, mostly at gunpoint. He broke into the home of Brenda Groena and partner Mark Mackenzie, clubbing both them and Brenda’s teenage son Slade to death with a hammer. Duncan then kidnapped two other children, Shasta (8) and Dylan (9), before fleeing into the woods. For the next seven weeks he kept the children in a mountain cabin, and filmed himself raping and torturing Dylan before finally shooting him dead. He also raped and beat Shasta, but was apprehended at a fast-food restaurant when a waitress recognised the girl from a missing persons poster. Duncan smiled frequently during his trial and showed no remorse when he was sentenced to death.