Arizona Executes Richard Djerf for 1993 Phoenix Family Murders

Arizona executed Richard Kenneth Djerf by lethal injection at the State Prison Complex in Florence on Oct. 17, 2025; officials pronounced time of death at 10:40 a.m., and witnesses said staff had some trouble inserting IVs though the procedure otherwise went according to plan. Djerf, 55, pleaded guilty and had spent nearly three decades on death row for the Sept. 1993 murders of Albert and Patricia Luna and their children Rochelle, 18, and Damien, 5, crimes prosecutors say he committed in revenge over an alleged theft by a relative. He declined to seek clemency, expressed remorse in a written statement beforehand, gave no final words at the execution, and no Luna family members attended. The execution was Arizona’s second of 2025 and follows earlier scrutiny of the state’s lethal-injection procedures after past botched executions and drug-access problems. State officials, including Attorney General Kris Mayes, attended or spoke after the execution, and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell issued a statement saying the case illustrated why the state uses the death penalty.