JACQUES BILLEAUD
2 min read
FILE – This photo provided by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, shows death row prisoner Richard Kenneth Djerf. (Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry via AP, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona prisoner scheduled to be executed next month for killing four members of a family in their Phoenix home over 30 years ago has issued a statement apologizing for the pain he’s caused.
In a handwritten note released Thursday, Richard Djerf reiterated he wasn’t going to seek relief from the state’s clemency board. “If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote. “I hope my death brings some measure of peace.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which sought the warrant for Djerf’s execution, declined to comment on the statement.
Djerf, 55, had pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in the killings of Albert Luna Sr., his wife Patricia and their 18-year-old daughter Rochelle and 5-year-old son Damien on Sept. 14, 1993. A judge later sentenced Djerf to death.
Djerf’s execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Oct. 17. It would be Arizona’s second use of the death penalty this year.
Prosecutors say Djerf blamed another Luna family member, Albert Luna Jr., for an earlier theft of home electronic items at his apartment, became obsessed with revenge and months later entered the home under a ruse in which he claimed to be delivering flowers.
Authorities say Djerf sexually assaulted Rochelle and slashed her throat; beat Albert Luna Sr. wi