On this day, Sept. 26, in 1996, Richard Allen Davis, the killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, was sentenced to death in a dramatic courtroom scene in San Jose, Calif.
On Oct. 1, 1993, Davis kidnapped Polly at knifepoint from a slumber party in her bedroom, killed her and left her body off the highway.
At the sentencing, Davis read from a statement and hurled one Þnal insult, accusing Marc Klaas of molesting his daughter. Marc Klaas shouted and lunged at the defendant before submitting to deputies and leaving the courtroom.
In imposing a death sentence, Judge Thomas Hastings told the killer, “Mr. Davis, this is always a traumatic and emotional decision for a judge. You made it very easy today.”
Davis remains on death row. His record spurred passage of California’s “Three strikes law” for repeat offenders.
— Scott McCabe
