Robert Walden was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents Robert Walden would sexually assault and murder a woman inside of her home. Robert Walden was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Walden 2021 Information
ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
ROBERT L. WALDEN 079171
Florence, AZ 85132
United States
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On June 13, 1991, the victim’s husband returned home and found the victim’s body in their bedroom. The victim’s shoes, pants, and underwear had been removed. A lamp cord was still tied around her neck, and her throat had been cut. The room showed signs of a struggle and an autopsy revealed numerous abrasions and bruises on the victim’s body. The autopsy also revealed sperm in the victim’s vagina and on her thigh. Walden’s fingerprints matched those found at the victim’s residence, and those found during the investigation of two other sexual assaults. Both surviving sexual assault victims positively identified Walden as their attacker, as did a witness who observed Walden outside the victim’s apartment.
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On May 4, 1991, Vicki arrived at her friend’s apartment and noticed Walden standing near the swimming pool. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She went back to her car, waited a few minutes, and tried again. There was still no answer. As she turned to leave, Walden ran up behind her, shoved a knife against her throat, and threatened to kill her if she did not walk with him.
Walden forced Vicki into the community laundry room and ordered her to take off her clothes. She refused. Walden unzipped his pants and instructed Vicki to perform fellatio on him. She refused. Walden then grabbed Vicki and forcibly removed her clothing. Holding the knife against her neck, he touched her breasts and had forcible intercourse.
Afterwards, Walden left the laundry room but told Vicki that he would come back and kill her if she left. Walden left and returned twice. After he left the third time, Vicki ran to her car. She drove home and told her boyfriend she had been raped. Vicki went to the emergency room for examination and treatment. Analysis of the semen stains on Vicki’s clothes could not exclude Walden as the rapist.
B. Kristina
On May 15, 1991, Walden knocked on Kristina’s door. Dressed in blue pants and a red shirt, Arizona Chemical Company’s work uniform, he told Kristina he was there to work on the plumbing. Kristina was not suspicious because she believed her pipes were leaking.
Once inside, Walden asked Kristina to accompany him upstairs. This aroused Kristina’s suspicions so she began to call a friend. Walden grabbed her from behind and threatened to kill her if she screamed. He then grabbed the telephone out of Kristina’s hands and tried to wrap the cord around her neck. She struggled, and he dropped the phone. He then dragged her into the downstairs bathroom. Walden grabbed Kristina’s hairdryer and unsuccessfully tried to wrap the cord around her neck.
Walden then dragged Kristina into the living room. She almost escaped, but Walden managed to grab her and kick the door closed. Walden dragged her upstairs, and said “I’m going to kill you. I can do it.” Walden forced Kristina to kneel on the bedroom floor where he tied her arms behind her back with a telephone cord. He then blindfolded her, pushed her to the floor, and gagged her. He ripped open her shirt and bra and pulled off her shoes and jeans. Walden touched Kristina’s breasts, digitally penetrated her, and had forcible intercourse.
After the assault Walden retied Kristina’s hands, which she had freed while she struggled, and bound her feet. He then told her that he knew everything about her and would *604 kill her if she reported the rape. He went downstairs where Kristina heard him walking around the apartment and his keys jingling on his holder. Walden returned to the bedroom, ran an object down her back, told her it was a knife, and asked her if she wanted to “feel it harder.” He left the bedroom again. Kristina heard the front door open and close. But Walden walked back into the bedroom, laughed, and said, “I’m not gone yet, dummy, I’m still here. I’m watching you.”
When Walden finally left the apartment, Kristina managed to unbind herself, get dressed, and run to the manager’s office. She was taken to the emergency room where an examination revealed abrasions on her face, back, and wrists. Analysis of the semen stains on her clothes could not exclude Walden as the rapist.
C. Miguela
On June 13, 1991, at about 1:30 p.m., Elaine Jordan saw Walden at the Desert Sage apartment complex, which is next to the complex where he assaulted Kristina and near his own apartment. Elaine assumed he was an apartment maintenance man because he was wearing a uniform and carrying equipment.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., Miguela’s husband returned home from work to their apartment at Desert Sage and found the front door open. He went inside and found Miguela lying face down in the bedroom in a pool of blood, unclothed from the waist down. Miguela had died from a combination of manual and ligature strangulation and at least two deep cuts on her throat. She had been hit on the head with a blunt instrument and had several bruises and blunt force injuries on her arms, legs, and mouth. She had “scraping injuries” on her neck and chest. The pathologist also found semen in Miguela’s vaginal canal, the examination of which could not exclude Walden as the source. The police found Walden’s fingerprint on the night-stand in Miguela’s bedroom.
D. Imposition of the Death Penalty
Nine jurors found Walden guilty of both premeditated murder and felony murder, while three jurors found Walden guilty of felony murder only. At sentencing, the court found the following aggravating factors: (1) Walden had been convicted of another offense for which life imprisonment was imposable, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(1); (2) Walden had been convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(2); and (3) Walden committed the murder in an especially cruel, heinous, or depraved manner, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6). The court found no mitigation sufficiently substantial to call for leniency and sentenced him to death.
https://law.justia.com/cases/arizona/supreme-court/1995/cr-92-0530-ap-2.html
