arizona | My Crime Library

Ernest Gonzales Arizona Death Row

Ernest Gonzales was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for a murder committed during a robbery. According to court documents Ernest Gonzales was robbing a home when the owners returned. During a scuffle Ernest Gonzales would fatally stab the victim, Darrel Wagner, when the victim’s wife attempted to intervene she was stabbed multiple times but thankfully survived. Ernest Gonzales was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Ernest Gonzales 2021 Information

ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
ERNEST V. GONZALES 058534
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Ernest Gonzales More News

On the evening of February 20, 1990, the Wagner family returned to their town house in Phoenix from dinner where they had celebrated Darrel Wagner’s recent promotion. When they entered their court yard, Deborah Wagner noticed a light shining out their opened front door. Darrel went inside while Deborah and her 7-year-old son remained in the court yard. Inside, Darrel saw Gonzales, a parolee, standing on the landing holding their VCR tucked underneath his arm. Deborah sent her son for help. When she turned back, Gonzales had shoved her husband out the front door, stabbing him. When Gonzales ignored her pleas to stop stabbing, Deborah climbed on his back. Gonzales stabbed her twice. One cut damaged her spleen, colon and diaphragm and the other punctured her lung. Gonzales then fled. Darrel Wagner lived long enough to help his wife up and then began a conversation with the 911 operator while gasping for air. Gonzales had stabbed him 7 times. Darrel Wagner died from stab wounds to his chest, one skewered the lower lobe of his right lung and another went into the left ventricle of his heart. Phoenix police arrested Gonzales on February 23, 1991. In addition to the murder, he was convicted of first-degree burglary, aggravated assault, armed robbery, theft, and of another residential burglary committed minutes before the murder. In addition to the death penalty, Gonzales was sentenced to three consecutive life terms.

Ernest Gonzales Other News

Shortly before 7:00 p.m. on February 20, 1990, Roger Daughtry returned home from work and noticed that his porch light was on. He went inside and saw that someone had disassembled his stereo and moved his speakers. Suddenly, a man appeared from behind the speakers, looked at Daughtry, and ran out of the house. Daughtry later identified that man as Ernest Gonzales.

Minutes later, Jeri Sheer, Daughtry’s neighbor, took out her trash with her dog, which ran toward a man holding what looked like a tire iron. Sheer looked at the man, grabbed her dog, and went back into her house. When she looked out the window, she noticed the man heading west, the direction of Darrel and Deborah Wagner’s townhouse. Sheer later identified the man as Gonzales.

About 7:10 p.m., Darrel Wagner, his wife Deborah, and Deborah’s seven-year-old son arrived home from dinner. As they walked into the small courtyard of their townhouse, they noticed that their front door was ajar. Darrel went to investigate while Deborah and her son waited at the gate. As Darrel pushed open the front door, both he and Deborah saw Gonzales standing on the stairway holding their VCR under his arm. Deborah immediately told her son to run to the neighbor’s house and call 911. When she turned back toward her home, she saw Gonzales shove her husband out the front door. Darrel lost his balance and fell backward. Gonzales began to stab him repeatedly (seven times in all).

Deborah pleaded with Gonzales to leave. When he did not, Deborah jumped on Gonzales’s back and wrapped her arms around him to keep him from stabbing Darrel. Gonzales then swung at Deborah and stabbed her twice. He also apparently wounded himself as he was flailing at Deborah. When Deborah fell off his back, Gonzales left with her purse. A few minutes later, Darrel helped his wife up and both went inside to call 911. Darrel collapsed on the floor during the call and died later that night. Deborah spent five days in intensive care.

Gonzales went from the Wagner residence to his girlfriend [Gloria Alvarez’s] house. She helped clean his wound. Her daughters, Catherine and Martha Trinidad, were there and testified at trial about comments Gonzales made the night of the murder, his clothing, and the “bag” he had with him containing a woman’s driver’s license and pictures of a boy with red hair—the color of Deborah’s son’s hair.

https://casetext.com/case/gonzales-v-ryan-4

Fabio Gomez Arizona Death Row

Fabio Gomez was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the beating death of a woman. According to court documents police received a 911 call of two people in a violent argument. When police arrived no one answered the door. Later that night a missing person report was filed for Joan Morana, a college student. Fabio Gomez was seen by police moving objects out of his home at 4:00am. When asked why he was performing this activity at such an odd hour Gomez responded he had babysat his son all day. Later police would find some of the objects Gomez disposed of had blood stains on them. When they went to Fabio Gomez apartment they saw blood stains on his carpet. A further search of his apartment would reveal more blood stains. The body of Joan Morana would be found in a nearby dumpster. Fabio Gomez was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Fabio Gomez would also be convicted of a kidnapping and sexual assault of another woman

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Fabio Gomez 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
FABIO E. GOMEZ 177075
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Fabio Gomez More News

On December 2, 1999 the Chandler Police Department received a report of a man beating a woman. The beating appeared to be taking place in an apartment at the caller’s apartment complex. Officers responded but were unable to make contact with anyone at the location. Later the same day, police received a missing person’s report of a Joan Morane who resided at the same complex. During the investigation police determined that Fabio Gomez lived in a nearby apartment and was acquainted with Joan Morane’s. At approximately 4:00 a.m. officers contacted Gomez outside his apartment carrying a deflated air mattress. Gomez told the officers that he and his girlfriend were moving and that he was putting some of their belongings into their car. When questioned about packing at that unusual hour, Gomez stated he had to watch their son during the day time. At approximately 5:30 a.m. officers observed what appeared to be blood on the edge of the air mattress and a red stain in a nearby trash dumpster. When officers re-contacted Gomez at his apartment, they observed what appeared to be blood stains on the carpet. During the search of the apartment investigators found more blood stains in the living and dining room areas. The hallway and bathroom vanity area had numerous blood stains on the floor, walls and door. Police also found a metal dumbbell weight with red stains consistent with blood. Police later found Joan Morane’s body in a trash dumpster near her front door.

Fabio Gomez Other News

A 34-year-old Chandler man sentenced to death Thursday for killing an Arizona State University student called the verdict “disgusting.”

“Your honor, on behalf of my family in the Dominican Republic, the friends I have here and all of the people in Arizona, I consider this sentence inappropriate,” Fabio Gomez said.

In addition, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Keppel ordered Gomez to serve a consecutive 21-year sentence for the kidnapping and rape of Joanne Morane, a 36-year-old liberal arts student.

Gomez was convicted of first-degree murder in March 2001 in the 1999 rape and beating death.

His sentencing was delayed, in part, because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that juries — not judges — must render the sentence in death penalty cases.

Gomez raised eyebrows when he chose to represent himself against the advice of his court-appointed attorneys and subpoenaed two Arizona Diamondbacks players to testify on his behalf.

Gomez, who played minor league baseball with Craig Counsell and Quinton McCracken, rested his case without calling them to the stand, however.

In an often rambling statement, Gomez said he was never read his Miranda rights, detectives failed to fully investigate the case and his speedy trial rights were violated.

“This is how you do justice in Arizona?” Gomez asked. “The case was not properly investigated. It’s disgusting. . . . They play games, but who cares? This is about Fabio Gomez.”

Stephen Johnson, who served as Gomez’s advisory counsel, called the verdict just, noting it would have been easy for the jury to sentence Gomez to death without deliberating at all.

Instead, he said, they took their duty seriously and deliberated more than two hours.

“I was happy with the process,” Johnson said.

In a brief statement following the verdict, Morane’s former husband, Jay Morane, said the jury’s decision doesn’t bring her back.

“It’s been three and a half years. I’m just glad it’s over,” Morane said, crying.

Chandler police found Morane’s body in an apartment complex trash bin in the 1200 block of West Parklane Boulevard.

She had been hit at least 18 times in the head with a 10-pound dumbbell.

A police officer who responded to the complex saw Gomez carrying a yellow raft to his car and later noticed it had blood on it.

When the officer went to Gomez’s apartment, he saw what appeared to be a bloodstain on the carpet.

Gomez initially said his girlfriend had cut her foot, then said that he had killed a stray cat with a baseball bat.

https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/chandler-man-gets-death-penalty-for-murder/article_956e9f11-1db6-51c5-83bf-8c67b6ac0810.html

Ruben Garza Arizona Death Row

Ruben Garza was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a couple. According to court documents Ruben Garza uncle Larry Franco had recently separated from his wife Ellen Franco. Ruben Garza accompanied his uncle to the woman’s new residence and the plan was to help Larry to convince his wife to get back together. However once in the home Ruben Garza would shoot and kill Ellen Franco. Lance Rush and Jennifer Farley would hide in a back bedroom. Jennifer would hide in a closet. Lance was involved in a brief scuffle with Ruben Garza that ended with Garza shooting him.three times. Ruben Garza was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Ruben Garza 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
RUBEN GARZA 190487
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Ruben Garza More News

Ellen Franco separated from her husband, Larry Franco, and moved into the home of Jennifer Farley and Lance Rush. Ruben Garza who is Larry Franco’s nephew, went to the Franco/Rush residence on the night of December 1, 1999, ostensibly to convince Ellen to reconcile with Larry. However, after Garza entered the Farley/Rush home, he drew a handgun and shot Ellen Franco twice. Jennifer and Lance attempted to escape the same fate by locking themselves in a bedroom, where Jennifer hid in a closet. Garza broke through the bedroom door and began struggling with Lance. Garza shot Lance three times and sustained a gunshot wound to his own arm. Jennifer called 9-1-1 after Garza fled. Despite the efforts of paramedics and emergency surgeons, both Ellen and Lance died from their gunshot wounds. Police arrested Garza the following day

Ruben Garza Other News

In September 1999, Ellen Franco moved into a two-bedroom house in Waddell occupied by Jennifer Farley and Farley’s boyfriend, Lance Rush. Ellen had recently separated from her husband, Larry Franco.

¶ 4 At approximately 10:30 p.m. on December 1, 1999, Farley heard a knock at the door. Upon opening the door she saw a Hispanic male who was five feet nine or ten inches tall, about 180 to 200 pounds, and had bad acne. He had a large tattoo on his left arm. The visitor pointed at Ellen, who was by then standing behind Farley, and said, “I am here to see her.” Ellen identified the visitor as “Ben,” whom Farley understood to be Ellen’s relative.²

¶ 5 Ellen went outside; Farley went to her bedroom and told Rush about the visitor. Farley then heard two gunshots. Rush and Farley scrambled to grab one of the guns they kept in their bedroom, and Farley took a pistol from her nightstand. By the time she removed the gun from its holster, the locked door to the bedroom had somehow been opened.

¶ 6 Rush, who had not been able to get one of the other firearms, motioned for Farley to stay in the room and went into the hallway. Farley heard a gunshot almost immediately thereafter and quickly hid in the bedroom closet. After entering the closet, she heard several more shots.

¶ 7 After waiting briefly, Farley came out of the bedroom closet. She saw Ellen lying face down in the living room in a pool of blood. After determining that Ellen was alive, Farley looked for Rush. She found him in the guest bedroom opposite their bedroom. He was conscious but bleeding. Farley dialed 911, and police and paramedics arrived within minutes. Rush was lucid and said, “Someone kicked the door and started shooting.”

¶ 8 Ellen never regained consciousness and died at St. Joseph’s Hospital shortly after the shooting. Rush died at John C. Lincoln Hospital approximately an hour after the shooting.

¶ 9 Around 12:45 a.m. on December 2, Ruben Garza bought bandages, gauze, and hydrogen peroxide from a drugstore in west Phoenix. Later that morning, he was treated at Phoenix Baptist Hospital for a gunshot wound to his left arm. The hospital contacted Phoenix police. Garza told the responding officer that he was walking down the street when an unknown assailant drove by and shot him.

¶ 10 Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (“MCSO”) detectives questioned Garza the next morning. Garza first claimed that he had been shot in a drive-by, but changed his story when told that he had been identified by Farley as the visitor to the Waddell house. He then stated that he had gone there to persuade Ellen to reconcile with Larry. Ellen came out and talked to him. When their conversation turned into an argument, Garza pulled out his gun and shot her. Garza said he then “blacked out” and was “in a daze.” He told the detectives he did not remember seeing a man at the house, but that the woman who had originally answered the door charged at him with a knife and he shot at her. At some point someone shot at him; he felt a “sting” in his arm and returned fire.

¶ 11 Garza was arrested and on December 2 made two phone calls from jail to Laurel Thompson. In the first conversation, Garza said he was “going to be here [in jail] for a couple years” and that he “did to someone else” what the two had discussed doing to a boyfriend who had assaulted Thompson.

¶ 12 In the second conversation, Thompson told Garza that he was on every newscast. Thompson asked Garza how he got caught; he told her, “I got shot.” Garza questioned Thompson about the news coverage and their friends’ reaction to it. Garza asked her how many victims were being reported, and she said that he had killed two people. Garza told Thompson that he did not remember whom he shot, and they both chuckled. When asked whether it was self-defense, Garza said, “On one count it was, on one count it wasn’t․ The guy shot me, then I shot him.”

¶ 13 Garza’s car was searched on December 4. Two white cloth gloves were found on the front seat floorboards. One glove was stained with blood, later identified through DNA testing as Garza’s. Under the front seat was a bloodstained green cloth glove. DNA testing also identified that blood as Garza’s. Garza’s blood was also found on the passenger side of the car and in two locations in the hallway of the Waddell house.

¶ 14 A box of 9 mm ammunition was found under the driver’s seat; Garza’s fingerprints were on the box. These bullets were the same type as those found at the murder scene. A 9 mm pistol was found in Garza’s belongings at his apartment; testing showed that the pistol had fired the bullets found at the murder scene. No bullets fired by any other gun were discovered at the scene, which suggests that Garza’s wound came from his own gun.

¶ 15 Farley identified Garza at trial as the intruder. Eric Rodriguez, a longtime friend of Garza’s, testified that before the murders he rejected Garza’s offer to join him in a venture that would require that they “get a little dirty” in order to make some money. Charles Guest, a more recent acquaintance, testified that two or three weeks before the murders Garza asked if he was interested in helping Garza with some “family problems.”

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1219473.html

Alfredo Garcia Arizona Death Row

Alfredo Garcia was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for a murder committed during a robbery. According to court documents Alfredo Garcia and James Sheffield would enter a bar while the owner was refilling the ATM. The owner would be involved in a brief struggle before he was shot twice causing his death. Alfredo Garcia and James Sheffield attempted to carjack a vehicle and failed so they boarded a city bus. Ten days later Alfredo Garcia and James Sheffield were arrested. James Sheffield plead guilty and was sentenced to life and would die in prison shortly afterwards. Alfredo Garcia went to trial, was convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Alfredo Garcia 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
ALFREDO L. GARCIA 047398
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Alfredo Garcia More News

On May 21, 2002, bar owner Steve Johnson withdrew a large amount of cash from the bank to re-fill the ATM at Harley’s Club 155, one of the bars he owned. When Steve arrived at the bar, he spoke briefly to the bartender and then proceeded to head to the ATM to re-fill it with cash. As Steve was re-filling the ATM, Garcia and co-defendant James Sheffield, armed with a gun, entered the bar through the back door and ordered Steve to drop the cash. Steve did as he was told, and yelled to both Garcia and Sheffield to get out of the bar. Steve also told his bartender to “get out of here” as a scuffle among Steve and both defendants was occurring. The bartender then heard two shots and the defendants fled the scene, dropping a trail of 20 dollar bills in their path. Garcia and Sheffield attempted to force a lady out of her car but were unsuccessful; then ended up getting on a city bus. Garcia was subsequently arrested on June 1, 2002. Sheffield pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to natural life; he died in prison shortly after sentencing.

Alfredo Garcia Other News

On the afternoon of May 21, 2002, Daniel Anderson was tending bar at Harley’s Club 155. Steven Johnson, the bar’s owner, was talking with Anderson. Garcia entered and asked to use the restroom; they directed him toward the rear of the bar, where there was also a back door. Shortly thereafter, Johnson went to the rear of the bar and began fixing a broken ATM. Anderson followed and they continued talking. Johnson kneeled beside the ATM with a stack of $20 bills.

¶ 3 Garcia suddenly burst through the back door and shouted “drop the money.” Directly behind Garcia was James Taylor Sheffield, who was crouching and carrying a gun. Johnson stood, threw the $20 bills on the ground, and said “just get out, get out of here.” Garcia pushed Johnson against the wall. Anderson stood “frozen” until Johnson looked at him and said “get out of here.” Anderson ran into the bar’s office, pushed an alarm button, and then escaped. He heard a gunshot before entering the office and heard a scuffling sound followed by a second gunshot as he fled.

¶ 4 Anderson went to another bar and called the police. Upon arriving at Harley’s, police found Johnson’s body outside the back door and $20 bills scattered nearby. Police also viewed video recordings from bus security cameras on the afternoon of Johnson’s murder. The recordings showed Garcia and Sheffield boarding a bus near the crime scene and later getting off at the same stop. The investigation ultimately led police to arrest Garcia on June 1 and Sheffield on June 6, 2002.

¶ 5 Garcia and Sheffield were each indicted on one count of first degree murder and one count of armed robbery; their trials were later severed. On November 13, 2007, a jury found Garcia guilty on both counts. After learning of possible juror misconduct, the trial court empanelled a new jury for the aggravation and penalty phases. The second jury found that Garcia was a major participant in the felony and was recklessly indifferent to Johnson’s life. This jury also found two aggravators: Garcia had been previously convicted of a serious offense, see A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(2) (Supp.2009); and he had committed first degree murder for pecuniary gain, see A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(5).² Concluding there was no mitigation sufficiently substantial to call for leniency, the jury determined that Garcia should be sentenced to death.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1522764.html

Michael Gallegos Arizona Death Row

Michael Gallegos was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a child. According to court documents Michael Gallegos would suffocate his step niece Kindall Wishon and after the eight year old girl was dead she was sexually assaulted. Michael Gallegos was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Michael Gallegos 2021 Information

ASPC Florence, Central Unit
PO Box 8200
MICHAEL S. GALLEGOS 085586
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Michael Gallegos More News

On March 16, 1990, Michael Steven Gallegos killed his 8 year old step-niece Kindall Wishon by holding his hand over her mouth and nose causing her to suffocate while he sexually assaulted her. After she died he then proceeded to have anal intercourse with her body while in her bedroom in Phoenix. He told police he went ahead and finished the act after she was dead because it wasn’t like she was going to tell anybody. The PSI mentions an accomplice named George Smallwood, but the County Attorney chose not to prosecute him for lack of evidence. Michael Gallegos was also convicted on May 24, 1991 of the following: Maricopa County CR 90-03339 – Count 2 Sexual Conduct with a Minor, committed on 3/16/90, sentenced to 21 years flat, consecutive to Count 1.

Michael Gallegos Other News

A federal appeals court ordered a lower court to consider whether an Arizona death row inmate’s trial for the 1990 sex assault and murder of an 8-year-old girl may have been tainted by the actions of a detective.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all of Michael Gallegos’ claims that he was poorly represented by his attorney at his trial and at sentencing in the death of Kendall Wishon.

But the divided panel said a federal district judge should consider whether Gallegos can raise a new argument in state court that Armando Saldate, a Phoenix police detective, failed to advise him of his rights before he confessed to Wishon’s murder.

Gallegos said in court documents that Saldate “had a history of both lying in judicial proceedings and ignoring defendants’ constitutional rights,” facts that prosecutors knew but failed to tell the defense.

Prosecutors did not respond to requests to comment on the decision. But an attorney for Gallegos welcomed the court’s order, which was handed down Thursday.

“We look forward to the opportunity to present to the state court for its consideration,” said Dale Baich, a lawyer in Federal Public Defender’s Office representing Gallegos.

The case began in March 1990 when Gallegos, a Flagstaff native, and George Smallwood went to visit family living in Phoenix – Gallegos’ brother and Smallwood’s mother, who were living together with Smallwood’s younger half-sister, Kendall.

After a night of drinking while working on a car with Gallegos’ brother, Michael Gallegos suggested to Smallwood that they “fondle” Kendall. She was 8, while Gallegos and Smallwood were both high school seniors at the time.

Smallwood agreed and they sneaked into Kendall’s room. But after she began to wake, they covered her mouth and nose and she eventually stopped moving. Thinking she was dead Smallwood suggested they “finish her off,” according to court documents. Though Smallwood was unsuccessful, Gallegos had intercourse with her corpse, the opinion said.

The two carried her body outside and left it under the tree where it was found the next day, no more than 250 feet from the house. Suspicion turned to Gallegos and Smallwood after police realized that there were no signs of forced entry to the house.

After his arrest, Gallegos initially denied the crime but eventually confessed and implicated Smallwood, who denied any involvement.

Both were charged. But charges against Smallwood were dismissed after DNA testing linked Gallegos to the body, but found that Smallwood “could not be included as a contributor to the evidence.”

Gallegos was convicted in May 1991 in Maricopa County with murder and sexual conduct with a minor.

In his latest appeal, he claimed that his trial attorney, Greg Clark, did a poor job representing him, that he treated Gallegos harshly on the stand when he testified in his own defense and that he failed to adequately prepare to challenge the state’s medical expert.

But the court rejected all those claims, noting that Clark had the “exceedingly difficult task” of crafting a defense in the face of “compelling physical evidence” that his client had committed a heinous crime.

Clark told jurors at the outset that though his client was “absolutely responsible” for the crimes, he was still a “scared teenager” who “never intended to kill Kendall,” often referring to Gallegos as a “man-child.”

A second line of defense was the technical argument that Kendal was not alive at the time of the sexual assault and therefore no longer a “person” – a defense that Judge Marsha Berzon wrote in the circuit court opinion was “convoluted, inherently repulsive, and unsympathetic.”

Still, she wrote, that “novel, if disturbing” defense against felony murder may have been Clark’s best option. It was not an argument “certain to lose,” Berzon wrote, upholding the lower court’s decision to reject Gallegos’ claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

“It would not have been unreasonable for the state court to hold that any deficiencies committed by Clark during the guilt phase did not prejudice Gallegos at the penalty stage,”

https://www.azfamily.com/az-death-row-inmate-gets-new-hearing-because-of-detectives-actions/article_5b98af7b-683f-5c65-866f-e2d58e383a75.html