An infamous child killer who crashed a sleepover in 1993 and blindfolded three girls before kidnapping and murdering one of them could have his death sentence overturned.
Career criminal Richard Allen Davis, 69, was sentenced to death for the shocking murder of Polly Klaas in Petaluma, California.
The kidnapping of the girl in her own home during a pajama party she was organizing, in the place where she should have felt safest, caused international shock and revulsion.
Davis strangled Klaas to death just hours after the horrific kidnapping. He eventually confessed to the murder and was sentenced to death in 1996.
The murderer had a long criminal past and had been released from prison for kidnapping a woman a few months before the murder. Outcry over his long record led California to toughen its sentencing laws for repeat offenders.
However, since then, the increase in the prison population has meant that the state has taken steps to eliminate sentencing enhancements for previous convictions, which Davis now argues should be applied to his punishment. He demands a new sentence in his case that could end his stay on death row.
‘Decades-old cases of extreme pain are needed and shoved in everyone’s faces so we can give the criminal one more chance. Where is my consideration? Klaas’ father, Marc Klaas, asked Mercury News while criticizing the change in law.
Child killer Richard Allen Davis, who crashed a sleepover in 1993 before kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Polly Klaas, has launched a bid to have his death sentence overturned. He is seen pointing fingers after being found guilty of Polly’s murder in June 1996.
Klaas and his friends were tied up and blindfolded before Davis kidnapped her and strangled her to death in a ditch.
Klaas was enjoying a sleepover with two friends at his Petaluma, California home (pictured) when Davis snapped grabbing a knife.
The crime struck fear into the hearts of parents around the world when news of Klaas’s disappearance broke on October 1, 1993.
The girl was with two friends when Davis burst into her Petaluma home brandishing a knife while her mother and sister slept in the next room.
He tied up and blindfolded the girls before kidnapping Klaas and strangling her to death in a ditch.
Police, unaware of the boy’s disappearance at the time, ended up freeing Davis’ car from the same ditch.
In the nearly two months that followed, the Petaluma community launched a frantic search for the missing girl.
Davis only emerged as a suspect after a neighbor found children’s red knit socks, a sweatshirt and a piece of white silk fabric, which matched the binding used on the other girls.
Davis was arrested two days later, on November 30, and confessed to the murder, eventually leading police to Klaas’ body under a piece of plywood.
Several DNA tests also linked him to the scene. He was charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted lewd acts on a child.
Career criminal Davis, 69, was sentenced to death for the shocking murder.
Outcry over his long record led California to toughen its sentencing laws for repeat offenders.
The intense publicity surrounding the case forced it to be moved to Santa Clara County.
Davis ultimately received the death penalty in 1996 and pointed the finger at the jury when the verdict was read.
He currently remains on death row, although Governor Gaving Newsom has suspended all executions in California.
Outrage over Klaas’ murder led California to enact a “three strikes you’re out” law requiring life sentences for repeat offenders.
Since then, successive governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom have enacted laws relaxing measures to combat mass incarceration.
In 2021, Democratic Senator Ben Allen pushed a bill that retroactively applied the elimination of sentencing enhancements for prior convictions.
Davis’ attorneys argued in February that the rule change means he should be entitled to a full new sentence since his initial sentence took into account four prior felony convictions and three prior prison terms.
But prosecutors do not believe the law change applies to the death penalty for the murder and say it would affect only two years of his prison sentence on other charges.
Marc Klaas, Polly’s father, criticized the change in sentencing laws
Allen has since stated that the law was “definitely not intended to overturn the death sentences of convicted murderers.”
“I agree with the prosecutors on this question of interpretation and I hope they prevail in court,” he told Mercury News.
Davis will not be executed anytime soon amid the state’s pause on executions, and as California has only carried out 13 executions between 1972 and 2019.
Newsom signed an order suspending capital punishment and calling for the closure of the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison, as well as the repeal of the state’s lethal injection protocol.
However, the order does not modify the conviction or sentence of those convicted.
“We had every expectation that the death sentence recommended by the jury and imposed by Judge Thomas Hastings would keep him segregated from society for the rest of his life,” Klaas’s father added. ‘We couldn’t have been more wrong!’
However, Klaas’ sisters, Jess and Annie Nichol, have openly opposed the three strikes law, pointing out that it disproportionately affects minorities.
Marc Klass, father of kidnapping and murder victim Polly Klaas, and his wife Violet Cheer examine Polly’s belongings in her bedroom
Macintosh computer screen displaying a reward poster, via Internet bulletin board service, by Klass
Marc Klaas, father of Polly Klaas, hugs an unidentified friend after Davis was sentenced
In 2021, they launched a podcast called A New Legacy that focuses on alternatives to tough crime sentences.
‘As Polly’s sisters, it is difficult to understand how these laws became the legacy of our sister, the State, on her website.
‘The beauty of Polly’s life should not be overshadowed by this widespread injustice.
Until now, we have been reluctant to insert ourselves into the criminal justice conversation out of respect for the different perspectives of our own extended family.
‘Polly’s father worked hard to get stricter sentencing laws passed after her death. “We love and respect him, and it has been painful to disagree about something that is so personal to all of us.”