Richard Davis

Richard Allen Davis (born June 2, 1954) is a convicted rapist and murderer, whose criminal record fueled support for passage of California's "Three strikes law" for repeat offenders. He is currently on death row in San Quentin State Prison, California.
 

Polly Klaas

He was convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and four special circumstances (robbery, burglary, kidnapping and a lewd act on a child) of 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Klaas was abducted October 1, 1993, from her Petaluma, California, home.

Davis At Sentencing

A San Jose, California, Superior Court jury recommended the death sentence for Davis on August 5, 1996. After the verdict was read, Davis stood and made an obscene gesture at the courtroom with both hands. Later, at his formal sentencing, Davis read a statement claiming that Klaas had said to Davis "Just don’t do me like my Dad" just before Davis killed her, implying that Klaas' father was a child molester.

Polly Klaas' Father

Klaas' father reacted angrily and left the courtroom to avoid causing further commotion, and the judge proceeded with the formality of the death sentence, saying that it should never be easy to sentence a human to death, but that "your (Davis') behavior today made it very easy."