Randy Guzek Oregon Death Row
Randy Guzek was sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for a double murder. According to court documents Randy Guzek with two accomplices would rob the victims before killing the two victims, Rod and Lois Houser, of Terrebonne. Randy Guzek two accomplices would testify against him at trial in exchange for a lighter sentence. Randy Guzek would be sentenced to death
Randy Guzek 2021 Information
| Offender Name: | Guzek, Randy Lee |
| Age: | 51 |  | DOB: | 05/1969 |  | Location: | Oregon State Penitentiary |
| Gender: | Male | | Race: | White Or European Origin | | Status: | AIC |
| Height: | 5′ 10” | | Hair: | Blond | | Field Admission Date: | 07/25/1991 |
| Weight: | 195 lbs | | Eyes: | Blue | | Earliest Release Date: | Death |
Randy Guzek More News
Guzek was convicted of killing Rod and Lois Houser, of Terrebonne. Guzek, who was 18, shot Lois Houser three times with a handgun, chased her up a staircase and shot her for the last time as she huddled inside a closet. He then ripped the rings off her fingers. Rod Houser was shot 20 times by Mark Wilson, who is serving a life sentence for the killing. Donald Cathey also is serving a life sentence for participating in the crime, although he did not kill anyone. Guzek has been sentenced to death four times.
Randy Guzek Other News
After only a few hours of deliberation, a Bend jury imposed the death penalty for a fourth time Thursday afternoon against convicted double-murderer Randy Lee Guzek for his role in the brutal murders of a Terrebonne couple, after three earlier decisions were overturned on appeal over the past 23 years.
People were called back to the courtroom around 2 p.m., 5 1/2 hours after the jury got the case, following closing arguments and final jury instructions from a visiting Lane County judge.
The jury decided Guzek deserves to die by lethal injection, rather than be given life in prison with the possibility of parole when he’s 78.
Guzek was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder in 1988 for killing Rod and Lois Houser at their home in Terrebonne.
The 41-year-old Guzek was 18 when he and two other men shot and stabbed the Housers, then ransacked their house.
His death sentence has been overturned three times since his conviction, on legal issues. A new Deschutes County Circuit Court jury has spent the past three weeks hearing prosecution testimony detailing the brutal crimes, and most recently from the defense, trying to paint a portrait of a troubled youth with an abusive father.
Special prosecutor Josh Marqis told the jury in his closing statement Thursday, “We can hope that at least Rod Houser was surprised when he was shot 20-plus times. But Lois Houser knew she was going to die when she ran upstairs, running from that man there” – he said, pointing to Guzek – “although there was no escape.”
Eleven Houser family members or supporters were in the front row as the fourth trial in nearly a quarter-century came to an end.
The jury was not swayed to spare Guzek’s life by the tearful convict’s apology for his crimes in court Wednesday, as he told the jury he now blames himself, not an abusive father or drugs, for what happened.
“For the fourth time in 23 years, we’ve all had to relive the irresponsible and shameless behavior of my past,” Guzek said. “I’m truly sorry to all of you for that.”
Guzek said he knew that whatever he said, “my words likely will be perceived as self-serving. The alternative to that, however, would be to say nothing at all, and I don’t think that would be fair either.”
“I remain overwhelmed with guilt (and) shame,” Guzek said. “I am truly sorry for all of the unnecessary pain I have caused. I’m truly sorry for not living my life, and conducting myself, in a manner so that my friends and family could defend me, but never have to.”
“I’m asking for forgiveness,” he said. “I’m asking for peace. And I’m asking the healing process steadfastly work its magic within all of us. It is for these things I ask, and it is for these things I pray.”
“I blame me for my failures; I am responsible for all of them,” he said.
Guzek was 18 when he and two accomplices robbed the Housers, a couple he was familiar with because he briefly dated their niece. Guzek, under the influence of methamphetamine, ordered one of the accomplices to kill Rod Houser, who months earlier had told Guzek to stay away from the girl.
Lois Houser was chased up the staircase and shot three times by Guzek, who then stole the wedding ring off her hand.
Guzek was convicted the following year and sent to death row. The accomplices were spared a potential death sentence by agreeing to testify against Guzek, the alleged ringleader.
Guzek’s conviction has stood for 22 years, but the sentence produced a legal saga with three sequels, not including an appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court. It has reportedly cost the state more than $2 million.
Marquis said in closing arguments Wednesday that the easy choice would be to stop the appeals and simply keep Guzek behind bars until he’s an old man. But that, he said, wouldn’t be just.
Marquis, noting Guzek’s criminal activity before the murders, said Guzek would be a strong candidate to reoffend, even at 78, and has not shown remorse for his actions.
“Mercy, in order to be bestowed, has to be earned, and Mr. Guzek has not earned it,” Marquis said.
Defense attorney Rich Wolf told jurors that it was a “tragedy” for the Housers that the case dragged on for more than 20 years, but it has allowed them to have information jurors did not have in 1988, 1991 and 1997, such as Guzek’s history of being a model inmate.
As for Guzek’s upbringing, Wolf challenged jurors to find a “more reprehensible, more heinous” father.
“To suggest his father was not a factor is quite disingenuous,” he said.
Though relatives of the Housers want Guzek to join the other 33 inmates on Oregon’s death row, Wolf told jurors the family has had to revisit the ordeal in four jury trials, and a death sentence would only renew the appeals process.
“Let the punishment begin today,” he said.
In his rebuttal, Marquis told jurors that the “Houser family speaks for the Houser family.”
“Let’s not talk about closure,” he fumed. “There is no closure.”
