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Nickolus Johnson Tennessee Death Row

Nickolus Johnson was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Nickolus Johnson was in a domestic incident with his girlfriend when Bristol police officer Mark Vance arrived at the door to investigate a complaint. Nickolus Johnson would fatally shoot the officer. Nickolus Johnson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Tennessee Death Row Inmate List

Nikolus Johnson 2021 Information

Name:	NICKOLUS JOHNSON
Birth Date:	07/06/1978
TDOC ID:	00421296
State ID Number (SID):	2222739

Nikolus Johnson More News

Officer Mark Vance of the Bristol Police Department was shot and killed on November 27, 2004, while responding to a dispatch call at the home of Walter Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell, a long-distance truck driver, lived on Belmont Drive in Bristol, Tennessee with his twin seventeen-year-old daughters, B.M. and T.M.¹ , and B.M.’s one-year-old son. On the evening of November 27, Mr. Mitchell left his home to pick up a load of goods for his employer. His grandson, two daughters, and two of their friends remained at the home. Not long after Mr. Mitchell left his home, B.M. called him to report that a man was at the house threatening her with a gun. Mr. Mitchell called 9–1–1 and turned his truck around to go home.

The armed man at the Mitchell residence was the defendant, Nickolus Johnson. Mr. Johnson and B.M. had been seeing each other socially, and B.M. was pregnant by him. Mr. Johnson was twenty-six years old and already had two young children by two different women. He insisted that B.M. have an abortion, but B.M. refused. Earlier that evening, they argued over the telephone about her pregnancy and her refusal to have an abortion. Mr. Johnson became angry and B.M. abruptly ended the discussion. About ten minutes later, Mr. Johnson arrived unexpectedly at the Mitchell home, entered the house, and started pacing back and forth, “yelling and cussing.” Mr. Johnson, armed with two guns, was worried that Mr. Mitchell would press statutory rape charges against him, and he threatened to kill B.M. and her father. Mr. Johnson laid the guns on the coffee table in the living room, but later picked up the guns and put them in his pocket. Mr. Johnson threatened to kill the first person who walked through the door. He vowed that he would go to prison for murder, but not for statutory rape. Termaine McMorris, a mutual friend of Mr. Johnson and B.M., arrived at the house and tried unsuccessfully to calm Mr. Johnson. Meanwhile, B.M. continued to talk to her father on the telephone. When she told Mr. Johnson that her father had called the police, he responded that the “police can’t dodge these shells” and threatened to shoot any police officer who arrived at the house.

Officer Vance was dispatched to the Mitchell residence. From an upstairs bedroom window, Mr. Johnson watched Officer Vance arrive. T.M. and Mr. McMorris met Officer Vance on the front porch and told him everything was “okay.” Officer Vance insisted that he still needed to go into the house. T.M. and Mr. McMorris entered the split-level home first and proceeded up the stairs. Officer Vance was right behind them armed only with his flashlight; his gun was still holstered. Mr. Johnson was standing out of sight in the upstairs hallway. As Officer Vance reached the hallway and living room area at the top of the stairs, Mr. Johnson, from a distance of one to two feet, shot Officer Vance in the head, mortally wounding him. No words were exchanged before the shot was fired. Mr. Johnson immediately threw one of his guns into the living room and said “I’m out.” As he was going out of the front door, Mr. Johnson laid down the other gun.

Lieutenant Eric Senter, also of the Bristol Police Department, arrived at the Mitchell residence at the same time as Officer Vance was entering the home. Lt. Senter watched Officer Vance enter the residence and proceed up the stairs. As Lt. Senter was walking to the front door, he saw an arm holding a gun extend from the hallway toward Officer Vance and heard the gun blast. Lt. Senter retreated behind a nearby tree and called for back-up.

Officer Daniel Graham of the Bristol Police Department arrived at the scene as Lt. Senter took cover behind the tree. Mr. Johnson ran out of the house, followed by Mr. McMorris. Lt. Senter shouted at the two men and ordered them to lie on the ground. T.M. carried the gun out of the house and repeatedly shouted “why did you shoot him?” T.M. was also ordered to lie on the ground. As Mr. Johnson was being handcuffed, he said that he had “shot the fucker.” Lt. Senter asked him who he had shot and Mr. Johnson said “I shot the fucking cop․ I shot him in the head. He’s dead․ Ain’t no use of going in there.” Then Mr. Johnson began laughing. According to Mr. Johnson, he shot Officer Vance because Mr. Johnson did not call the police and did not want the police there. After the officers placed Mr. Johnson in a patrol cruiser, Mr. Johnson continued to laugh about shooting Officer Vance.

The officers then entered the residence and discovered Officer Vance lying in the upstairs hallway, shot once in the head. Bristol Police Officer Bradley Michael Tate arrived shortly afer the shooting and attempted to provide medical assistance, but Officer Vance was not breathing, in cardiac arrest, and had no pulse. According to Dr. William McCormick, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Tennessee, the bullet entered Officer Vance’s right eye and proceeded in a sharp downward angle, causing massive shattering of the middle and anterior cranial parts. Officer Vance died “as the result of a single intermediate range gunshot wound to the face, with the entrance slightly above the right eye about the level of the mid-eyebrow with destruction of the skull[,] damage to the brain[,] ․ and bleeding.”

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1628707.html

Vincent Stopher Kentucky Death Row

Vincent Stopher was sentenced to death by the State of Kentucky for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Deputy Sheriff Gregory Hans went to the home of Vincent and a struggle ensued where Stopher would disarm the victim and fatally shoot him. Vincent Stopher was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Kentucky Death Row Inmate List

Vincent Stopher 2021 Information

Name:	STOPHER, VINCENT CHRISTIA Active Inmate DEATH ROW
PID # / DOC #:	229399 / 113860
Institution Start Date:	6/09/1993
Expected Time To Serve (TTS):	DEATH SENTENCE
Classification:	Maximum
Minimum Expiration of Sentence Date (Good Time Release Date): ?	DEATH SENTENCE
Parole Eligibility Date:	DEATH SENTENCE
Maximum Expiration of Sentence Date:	DEATH SENTENCE
Location:	Kentucky State Penitentiary
Age:	48
Race:	White
Gender:	M
Eye Color:	Green
Hair Color:	Brown
Height:	6′ 01″
Weight:	200

Vincent Stopher More News

Stopher was sentenced to death on March 23, 1998 in Jefferson County. On March 10, 1997 in Jefferson County, Deputy Sheriff Gregory Hans was dispatched to the home of Vincent and Kathleen Becker. A struggle occurred whereby Stopher obtained Hans’ 9mm pistol and shot Deputy Sheriff Hans.

Vincent Stopher Other News

On March 10, 1997, Deputy Hans responded to a call made to the Louisville Police Department concerning a disturbance at Appellant’s home. When Deputy Hans arrived at the location, Appellant approached the police cruiser and began striking Hans. Deputy Hans attempted to defend himself but Appellant pinned him to the seat of the cruiser with the result that Deputy Hans’ left hand and arm were trapped beneath his body. Appellant unholstered Deputy Hans’ handgun, pressed the barrel of the gun into Hans’ face, and pulled the trigger. Immediately thereafter, Appellant got out of the police cruiser and pointed the gun at a witness, Steve Porter. Porter, afraid he was about to be shot, dropped to his knees and raised his hands. Appellant pulled the trigger, however, the gun jammed and would not fire. At this time, other officers arrived on the scene and apprehended Appellant. Witnesses stated that Appellant was enraged and shouted that he hoped the officer had died. Four officers were required to wrestle Appellant to the ground and handcuff him. While the officers were struggling with Appellant, he grabbed another officer’s weapon and attempted to fire it.

Following an extensive and highly publicized trial, Appellant was found guilty of intentional murder and was sentenced to death.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ky-supreme-court/1354079.html

Ralph Baze Kentucky Death Row

Ralph Baze was sentenced to death by the State of Kentucky for the murders of two police officers. According to court documents the two police officers were serving a warrant when they were shot and killed by Ralph Baze who was armed with an assault rifle. Ralph Baze would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Kentucky Death Row Inmate List

Ralph Baze 2021 Information

Name:	BAZE, RALPH STEVENS JR Active Inmate DEATH ROW
PID # / DOC #:	218175 / 032863
Institution Start Date:	2/05/1994
Expected Time To Serve (TTS):	DEATH SENTENCE
Classification:	Maximum
Minimum Expiration of Sentence Date (Good Time Release Date): ?	DEATH SENTENCE
Parole Eligibility Date:	DEATH SENTENCE
Maximum Expiration of Sentence Date:	DEATH SENTENCE
Location:	Kentucky State Penitentiary
Age:	65
Race:	White
Gender:	M
Eye Color:	Blue
Hair Color:	Blond or Strawberry
Height:	6′ 01″
Weight:	220

Ralph Baze More News

Ralph Baze was sentenced to death on February 4, 1994, in Rowan County for the murder of two police officers. On January 30, 1992, a Powell County Deputy, Arthur Briscoe, went to Baze’s home regarding warrants from Ohio. He returned with Sheriff Steve Bennett. Ralph Baze, using an assault rifle, killed the two police officers. Ralph Baze was arrested the same day in Estill County

Ralph Baze Other News

Baze shot each of the officers three times in the back with an SKS assault rifle at a time when the officers were attempting to serve five felony fugitive warrants from Ohio on him. Sheriff Bennett was killed first when Baze shot him three times in the back from the cover of a large stump and brush pile near his secluded cabin. Baze then turned his attention toward Deputy Briscoe. Briscoe was pinned down by the semi-automatic rifle fire from Baze, and the officer crouched down and returned fire from across the hood of the police cruiser. Briscoe fired two full clips from his 9 mm. pistol as Baze was walking towards him firing from his 35 round banana clip as he proceeded. With his weapon empty, Deputy Briscoe turned and tried to run away. Before he could run ten feet, he was shot in the back twice. Baze pursued the officer, stood over him and fired his rifle into the back of the Deputy Sheriff’s head.

Baze told police after his arrest, “I shot him in the back of the head. I understand I was killing the man. There was no doubt in my mind.” Later, he voluntarily admitted, “You tell them that you have got the right man. I’m the one that killed them son of a bitches.”

Sheriff Bennett and Deputy Briscoe were seeking Baze in order to serve fugitive warrants from Ohio on the twice convicted felon. The Ohio warrants were for felonious assault of a police officer with a deadly weapon, bail jumping, receiving stolen property and flagrant nonsupport.

Baze knew that Kentucky police were looking for him on the Ohio charges because the Sheriff and other officers went to his rural cabin and spoke to his wife in an effort to locate him. Baze went to Ohio for two weeks in the beginning of mid-January 1992. His wife had telephoned him in Ohio to warn him that “they had been looking for him, and, that Steve Bennett read me the warrants.” Baze purchased an assault rifle and ammunition while in Ohio and returned to Kentucky on January 28 with the rifle. Baze testified that he was intending to leave to go to Florida. About mid-day on January 30, 1992, Deputy Briscoe drove to the Baze cabin. Baze was hiding inside the cabin and his wife told the Deputy that he was not home. A number of relatives were both inside and outside the cabin. Although he tried to escape through a trap door in the bedroom floor, Baze was ultimately confronted by the Deputy who showed him a list of the Ohio charges. Baze refused to be taken into custody because he said he did not want the inconvenience of having to wait eight months for his case to go to court. Briscoe left to get help. Baze then crossed the road and positioned himself behind the cover of a large stump and brush pile behind where the officers would park their cruisers if they returned. When they did return, Baze’s wife walked out in front of the cabin and hollered at the officers, drawing their attention. Baze was behind them on the high ground with cover and the sun at his back and his SKS assault rifle. Baze fired at the officers while Sheriff Bennett was looking away in the opposite direction.

After he killed both officers, Baze picked up the empty pistol from the Deputy and removed the Sheriff’s unfired revolver and put both of the side arms into his own blue bag. He then went into the woods and headed towards Estill County. Shortly after 8 p.m., Baze surrendered without incident at the home of former Estill County Sheriff Monty Parks. Sgt. Miller of the Irvine police arrested Baze and read the Miranda rights to him. Baze, without being questioned, told one of the arresting officers, “You tell them that you got the right man. I’m the one that killed them son of a bitches.” Later, Baze confessed to Detective Patterson, Trooper Blevins and Richard Wilson of the Courier-Journal in a series of statements on January 30 and in February, 1992.

The trial lasted three weeks, from November 29, 1993 until December 20, 1993. Baze admitted that he had shot the officers but said it was done in self-defense and under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance. At the conclusion of the guilt phase, the jury deliberated three days. Following the guilt phase, the jury deliberated two days in the penalty phase to fix a sentence of death.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ky-supreme-court/1322852.html

Ronald Williams Arizona Death Row

Ronald Williams was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for a murder during a robbery. According to court documents Ronald Williams would break into an elderly man’s home and shoot him dead. Ronald Williams who was previously convicted of the murder of a off duty police officer would be arrested by the FBI in New York City. Ronald Williams would be convicted and sentenced to death..

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Ronald Williams 2021 Information

Not Held In Arizona

Ronald Williams Other News

A jury convicted Ronald Turney Williams on February 10, 1984, of first degree murder and armed burglary in the first degree for breaking into a home, burglarizing it, and shooting and killing someone who saw him, John Bunchek. Williams was sentenced to death on the murder conviction and to an aggravated term of fourteen years for the burglary conviction.

John Bunchek, an elderly Scottsdale resident, was shot and killed on March 12, 1981. A white male who had been seen wandering around the neighborhood just before the shooting knocked on the Bunchek’s door and asked Sylvia Bunchek whether her next-door neighbors were home. Mrs. Bunchek told him that they were not. Mrs. Bunchek saw the stranger walk toward the neighbors’ (the Tancoses’) house. She expressed concern to her husband when he arrived a few minutes later. He went to investigate. When he failed to return, Mrs. Bunchek went to the Tancos house where she found her husband lying face down in a pool of blood, having been shot in the chest. John Bunchek ultimately died from the wound.

In addition to Mrs. Bunchek, five other witnesses saw the stranger in the neighborhood that day. Brenda Wood and William Koranda had talked with him face-to-face; Alan and Elizabeth Tautkus saw him for about five seconds as they drove by in their car. Wood and the Tautkuses provided the police with a description from which a composite sketch was prepared. This sketch was televised and published in local newspapers on March 13.

It was seen by one of Williams’s roommates, Lynn Walsh. Williams rented a house that was about three minutes from the Tuatkus home with Walsh, James McClaskey and Cheryl Le Duc. Walsh told McClaskey and Le Duc that the drawing looked like “Randy.” “Randolph Cooper” and “Randy Despain” were names that Williams testified he used while he was in Arizona. The roommates looked at the drawing and made the composite face look thinner and more bearded. McClaskey then called Silent Witness and reported their suspicions that Williams was the suspect.

Meanwhile, without telling anyone, Williams “threw his stuff in the trunk of the car” and took off from Scottsdale the day of the murder. He was arrested after a shoot-out with FBI agents in New York City on June 8, 1981.

An Arizona grand jury indicted Williams and, following an extradition hearing, Williams was arraigned on April 3, 1983. Counsel was appointed for him, but Williams elected to represent himself at the guilt phase with the assistance of advisory counsel.

The evidence at trial showed that none of the items taken from the Tancos residence during the burglary was found in Williams’s possession. However, the Mauser.380 semiautomatic pistol that Williams used in the New York shoot-out was the same gun that fired the bullet which killed Bunchek. Williams had bought this gun in Mechanicsville, Virginia, in 1980. Also, a footprint on the door of the Tancos house matched the tread marks of a type of athletic shoe that Williams had owned when he was in Scottsdale. In addition, Mrs. Tautkus identified Williams as the person she saw on March 12, although Wood and Koranda both testified that Williams was not the man they had seen in the neighborhood.

After Williams was shot and apprehended in New York, a nurse asked the FBI agent accompanying Williams to the hospital what Williams had done. The agent indicated that “he killed a bunch of people down south.” When Williams mumbled “no, no, no,” and the agent said “What about the old man in Scottsdale,” Williams replied either “If[I] hadn’t been framed in the first place, it never would have happened,” or “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been framed in the first place.” Williams’s reference to being framed was to a prior murder conviction in West Virginia.

Williams subsequently also admitted to burglarizing the home of Marjorie Larson in Virginia in December 1980. Like the door to the Tancos residence, the Larson front door was opened by bodily force. Both were daytime burglaries during which small items were stolen. As Williams was leaving the Larson house, he saw Larson standing in a neighbor’s driveway and shot at (but did not hit) her. The gun used to fire at Larson was the same gun that was used in the Bunchek murder and that Williams used in the shoot-out with the FBI. Williams left Virginia after the Larson burglary although he was engaged to be married at the time.

Williams testified on his own behalf. His defense was that McClaskey and McClaskey’s friend, “Bobby,” had borrowed his gun and committed the crime. However, LeDuc and Walsh testified that McClaskey looked and dressed differently from the man seen in the neighborhood that day. Neither knew of any friend of McClaskey whose name was “Bobby.”

Williams also testified that he left Scottsdale to avoid being investigated for escaping from jail in 1979, committing the burglary in Virginia, and having no identification. Williams admitted that he lied under oath (at the extradition hearing) about aliases he had used, people he knew, and his presence in Arizona at the time Bunchek was killed.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on the first degree murder and burglary counts on February 10, 1984.

Ronald Williams Other News

One of West Virginia’s most notorious criminals turned 76 this month. Ronald Turney Williams remains housed in the state’s maximum-security prison at Mount Olive in Fayette County where he will spend the rest of his life.

Williams was already serving a life sentence at the old Moundsville penitentiary for the murder of Beckley Police Sgt. David Lilly when he helped lead a mass escape of 15 inmates on November 7, 1979. Williams and others commandeered a passing vehicle and fatally shot the driver, off-duty State Trooper Phillip Kesner.

Most of the escapees were rounded up quickly, but Williams managed to elude authorities for 18 months. During that time, he sent taunting postcards to some of his inmate friends and continued his violent ways, murdering a Scottsdale, Arizona man. The FBI put him on their Most Wanted List.

Finally, in June 1981, he was tracked to a hotel in New York City where FBI agents arrested him following a shootout where he was wounded.

Today, Williams’ life is confined to a simple routine at Mount Olive. Here are some facts about his imprisonment, according to the State Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

He is housed in small cell in one of the maximum-security Quilliams units (named after correctional officer William Quilliams, who was stabbed to death by an inmate in in 1972). Prisoners in this unit are segregated from the rest of the prison population.

His cell is very basic—about 80 square feet of floor space, a toilet, wash basin, desk with stool and a bunk with mattress. He does have a television and radio and receives newspapers. Williams has an Xbox and a word processor, but no access to the internet.

Williams is a “pod janitor.” His duties include cleaning floors, walls and the unit shower. He also is allowed to go to “outdoor recreation” one hour a day, five days week.

I had other questions about Williams confinement, but DMAPS is limited on what inmate information it can provide. For example, I wanted to know whether Williams has caused any disruption or whether he has any health problems that require treatment. Inmate medical privacy issues preclude any comment about his health.

They did add, however, that Williams does receive visitors.

This will likely be the extent of Williams life for the rest of his days. He is serving two life-with-mercy sentences for murder, plus two consecutive 25- to 100-year terms for kidnapping. His earliest possible parole hearing would be in 2047. Additionally, Williams faces the death penalty in Arizona.

Ronald Turney Williams—from FBI’s Most Wanted List to prison janitor

Ernesto Martinez Arizona Death Row

Ernesto Martinez was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Ernesto Martinez stole a car in California and was driving across Arizona recklessly when several drivers phoned 911. After he was pulled over Officer Martin approached the stolen vehicle he was shot a number of times. Ernesto Martinez stole the Officer’s gun and took off. Ernesto Martinez headed back to California where he was arrested the next day. Ernesto Martinez was convicted and sentenced to death.

Arizona Death Row Inmate List

Ernesto Martinez 2021 Information

ASPC Eyman, Browning Unit
PO Box 3400
ERNESTO S. MARTINEZ 096032
Florence, AZ 85132
United States

Ernesto Martinez More News

In July 1995, Martinez stole a blue Monte Carlo in California and a license plate from another California car. Two days before the murder, he showed a friend in Globe his revolver with black electrical tape wrapped around the handle. Martinez had prior convictions for violent crimes, was in violation of his probation, and did not want to go back to prison. On August 15, 1995, several drivers noticed Martinez because of his excessive speed on S.R. 87. One couple passed him just after Officer Robert Martin had stopped him and was approaching the stolen Monte Carlo. Martinez shot Officer Martin four times and took his service revolver. Due to Martinez’s reckless, high-speed driving while fleeing the scene, several other drivers took down the Monte Carlo’s license plate number. Martinez fled to California, where the police arrested him a day later and recovered the murder weapon and Officer Martin’s service revolver. After his arrest, Martinez was overheard during a telephone call bragging to a friend-and laughing-that he had killed a cop. Tests revealed that at least one of the bullets that struck Officer Martin was fired from Martinez’s tape-wrapped revolver.

Ernesto Martinez Other News

Martinez drove from California to Globe, Arizona in a stolen blue Monte Carlo to visit friends and family. After learning that his parents had moved to Payson, Arizona, Martinez met his friend Oscar Fryer. Fryer asked Martinez where he had been. Martinez told Fryer that he had been in California. Fryer then asked Martinez if he was still on probation. Martinez responded that he was on probation for eight years and had a warrant out for his arrest. Martinez then pulled a .38 caliber handgun with black tape on the handle from under his shirt and showed it to Fryer. Fryer asked Martinez why he had the gun, to which Martinez responded, “[f]or protection and if shit happens.” Tr. Sept. 9, 1997 at 83. Fryer then asked Martinez what he would do if he was stopped by the police. Martinez told Fryer, “he wasn’t going back to jail.” Id. at 85.

¶ 3 Sometime after his conversation with Fryer, Ernesto Martinez left Globe and drove to Payson. On August 15, 1995, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Martinez was seen at a Circle K in Payson. He bought ten dollars worth of gas and proceeded south down the Beeline Highway toward Phoenix. Martinez was driving extremely fast and passed several motorists, including a car driven by Steve and Susan Ball. Officer Martin was patrolling the Beeline Highway that morning and pulled Martinez over at Milepost 195. Steve and Susan Ball saw Officer Martin’s patrol car stopped behind Martinez’ Monte Carlo and commented, “Oh, good, he got the speeding ticket.” Tr. Sept. 10, 1997 at 32. As they passed by, Susan Ball noticed Officer Martin standing at the driver’s side door of the Monte Carlo while Martinez looked in the backseat.

¶ 4 Shortly after Steve and Susan Ball passed, Ernesto Martinez shot Officer Martin four times with the .38 caliber handgun. One shot entered the back of Officer Martin’s right hand and left through his palm. Another shot passed through Officer Martin’s neck near his collar bone. A third shot entered Officer Martin’s back, proceeded through his kidney, through the right lobe of his liver, through his diaphragm, and lodged in his back. A fourth shot entered his right cheek, passed through his skull, and was recovered inside Officer Martin’s head. The hand and neck wounds were not fatal. The back and head wounds were.

¶ 5 After murdering Officer Martin, Ernesto Martinez took Officer Martin’s .9mm Sig Sauer service weapon and continued down the Beeline Highway at speeds over 100 mph. Martinez again passed Steve and Susan Ball, which they found strange. They began discussing how not enough time had passed for Martinez to have received a speeding ticket because it had only been a couple of minutes since they had seen him pulled over. They stayed behind Martinez for some time and watched him go through a red light at the Fort McDowell turnoff. Steve Ball commented, “Yeah, he just ran that red light. Something is up here. Something is going on.” Tr. Sept. 10, 1997 at 69. Steve and Susan Ball continued down the Beeline Highway and lost sight of Martinez until they reached Gilbert Road. At the red light on Gilbert Road, they caught up to him and took down his license plate.

¶ 6 Ernesto Martinez passed through Phoenix and arrived in Blythe, California at around 4:00 p.m. where he called his aunt for money. At 6:00 p.m., Martinez called his aunt again because she failed to wire the money he requested. Growing impatient, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Martinez entered a Mini-Mart in Blythe and, at gunpoint, stole all of the $10 and $20 bills from the register. Martinez killed the clerk with a single shot during the robbery.¹ A .9mm shell casing was recovered at the Mini-Mart the following day. Ballistics reports determined that this shell casing was consistent with the ammunition used in Officer Martin’s .9mm Sig Sauer.

¶ 7 Later that night, Ernesto Martinez drove to his cousin’s house in Coachella, California, near Indio. Around 12:00 p.m. the next day, August 16, 1995, Martinez took David Martinez, his cousin, and Anna Martinez, David’s wife, to a restaurant in Indio. After leaving the restaurant, Martinez noticed that a police car was following him. David asked Martinez if the car was stolen to which Martinez responded, “I think so.” Tr. Sept. 15, 1997 at 146-47. Martinez turned onto a dirt road and instructed David and Anna to get out of the car. They left the car and went to a nearby trailer compound to call Anna’s aunt to come and get them.

¶ 8 Tommy Acuna,² who lived in his grandmother’s house at the compound, was swimming when David and Anna appeared at the fence surrounding the compound. David and Anna asked Tommy if they could use his phone but Tommy refused. Tommy did permit Anna to use the bathroom. Anna went into the bathroom and came out a couple of minutes later. After showing David and Anna out, Tommy went back to the bathroom “to see if they left anything in there because she wasn’t in there that long.” Tr. Sept. 16, 1997 at 48. He found a towel on the floor with the .38 caliber handgun wrapped inside. Tommy took the gun, hid it in his pants, and walked outside. He testified that he hid the gun because it was his grandmother’s house. By the time Tommy walked outside, the police had surrounded the compound. An officer monitoring the perimeter called out to Tommy and told him that he was going to search him. Tommy walked over to the officer and exclaimed, “I have got the murder weapon.” Tr. Sept. 15, 1997 at 192. The officer searched Tommy and found the .38 caliber handgun. This gun was later identified as the weapon that fired the bullets which killed Officer Martin.

¶ 9 After David and Anna got out of the Monte Carlo, Martinez turned around on the dirt road. Another police car appeared on the scene and headed towards Martinez. Martinez saw this second police car, left the Monte Carlo, ran toward the trailer compound, and jumped the fence. He then ran into Johnny Acuna’s trailer.

¶ 10 The SWAT team evacuated the area and tried to communicate with Ernesto Martinez. After those attempts failed, the SWAT team negotiator threatened to use tear gas. Martinez responded, “I am not coming out; you will have to come in and shoot me.” Tr. Sept. 17, 1999 at 23. After further negotiations, however, Martinez agreed to come out and was taken into custody.

¶ 11 While in custody, Ernesto Martinez called his friend, Eric Moreno, and laughingly told Moreno that “he got busted for blasting a jura.” ³ Tr. Sept. 15, 1997 at 13. Martinez also told Moreno that a woman on the highway might have seen what had happened. They talked about the guns and Martinez told Moreno that one of the guns had been “stashed.” Id. at 21. After obtaining a warrant, the police searched Johnny Acuna’s trailer and found Officer Martin’s .9mm Sig Sauer under a mattress.

¶ 12 A jury convicted Ernesto Martinez of first degree murder, a class 1 dangerous felony; theft, a class 6 felony; theft, a class 5 felony; misconduct involving weapons (prohibited possessor), a class 4 felony; and misconduct involving weapons (serial number defaced), a class 6 felony. The trial court sentenced Martinez to death for the murder conviction, and to terms of imprisonment for the noncapital crimes.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/az-supreme-court/1026468.html