Richard D. Turner California

Richard D. Turner is an inmate on death row in the state of California..

Crime

During a home-invasion robbery, Turner killed a 78-year-old man and his 77-year-old wife, Merle and Freda Claxton as well as their dog.

Merle and Freda Claxton, 78 and 77 years old respectively, were killed on March 8, 1979.   At about 9:45 p.m. on that date, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department investigated a citizen's report that two cars were being stripped in nearby bushes.   Sheriff's deputies found a Pinto station wagon and a Comet, both with lights on and doors open.   On top of the vehicles, they saw a shotgun, a portable television, and a radio.   Two rifles were found in one of the vehicles, and the deputies found another rifle in the bushes,² as well as a file cabinet, cans of paint, household goods (pots, pans, etc.), and frozen food.   The cars were registered to Merle Claxton.   The deputies found two wallets on the floorboard of the Comet:  one had cards belonging to Merle Claxton, the other contained identification for a Richard Turner.

 Deputy Jecusco arrived at the Claxton house about 11 p.m.;   all the lights were on, the front and garage doors were open, and the window to the den was smashed.   As he entered, Jecusco noted a bullet hole in the front door and a .22 cartridge on the threshold.   The house had been ransacked.   Jecusco saw a dog lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the den.   Finally, in the kitchen, he found the bodies of a man and a woman.

Deputy Hurst, a footprints expert, preserved prints in and outside the house and backtracked from the Claxton residence to a small cabin about a half mile distant.   The footprints found at the cabin and those found near the two vehicles were identical.   They were followed for 12 miles into the desert where the deputies came upon Turner and Souza hiding behind a bush.

Deputy Hurst handcuffed Souza and asked if he had any weapons.   Souza replied, “We left them behind at the cars.”   At about the same time, Deputy Trumbull asked Turner where the guns were.   Turner responded, “We don't have any.   They were all left there when we left.”   The shoes worn by the suspects made prints which conformed with those observed earlier at the Claxton residence.   In Souza's pockets, Hurst found a .22 caliber cartridge, a wallet with the initials FMC, and a lighter inscribed “Freda and Merle 50th anniversary, 1918–1968.”

Address

Richard D. Turner C15605

San Quentin State Prison Death Row

San Quentin, CA 94974

Links of Interest

People v Turner

Videos of Interest

Notes

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