Richard Allen Davis


Richard Allen Davis is an American convicted murderer, whose criminal record fueled support for passage of California's "three-strikes law" for repeat offenders. He is currently on death row in Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison, California. He was convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and four special circumstances of 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Davis abducted Klaas on October 1, 1993, from her home in Petaluma, California.
A San Jose, California, Superior Court jury returned a death sentence verdict on August 5, 1996. After the verdict was read, Davis stood and made an obscene finger gesture at the courtroom camera with both hands. Later, at his formal sentencing, Davis read a statement claiming that Klaas had said to Davis, "Just don't do me like my dad," just before Davis killed her, implying that Klaas's father was a child molester. Polly's father, Marc Klaas, lunged at the defendant but was restrained by the bailiffs. Marc Klaas then left the courtroom to avoid causing further commotion. Judge Thomas C. Hastings proceeded, saying "Mr. Davis, this is always a traumatic and emotional decision for a judge. You made it very easy today by your conduct."

Early life

Davis was born the third of five children in San Francisco. His parents, Bob and Evelyn Davis, were both alcoholics. His defense attorneys during his trial said that his mother had punished Davis for smoking by burning his hand. Davis is of English and Northern Paiute heritage. His maternal grandparents were from the Fort McDermitt reservation in Nevada. He and his mother spent part of his childhood with them.
The couple divorced when Davis was 11. After the divorce, the children lived with their father, a longshoreman. Davis's father was sometimes unable or unwilling to care for his children, so they shuttled among family members and babysitters. Davis's father remarried twice. Davis resented both of his stepmothers.
Bob Davis was mentally unstable and sometimes suffered from hallucinations. He is reported to have taken a gun outside the home and shot at mirages. At an early age, Davis tortured and killed animals. According to Ruth Baron, the mother of one of Davis's childhood friends, "He would douse cats with gasoline and set them on fire. He made a point of letting people know he carried a knife, and he used to find stray dogs and cut them, however Davis had a pleasant and a good side at times, he would take care of his brothers and sisters since his parents were divorced, his sister said "Richard was like our mother and father in the same time who took good care of us."
By the time he entered his teens, Davis was deeply involved in crime. He told a psychiatrist that stealing relieved whatever "tensions" were building up inside him. He dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. At 17, when Davis was in court, a judge told him that he could either go to the California Youth Authority or join the United States Army. He chose the latter. He received a discharge after 13 months' service.
On October 12, 1973, Davis went to a party at the home of 18-year-old Marlene Voris. That night, Voris was found dead of a gunshot wound. There were seven suicide notes at the scene and the police concluded that she committed suicide. Friends of Voris believe Davis murdered her. In 1977, he told a psychiatrist that her death had deeply affected him and he had been hearing her voice in his head and also, "At times another voice would appear, telling him that she wanted to be assaulted or robbed or raped". A few weeks after Voris' death, Davis was arrested for attempting to pawn property he had stolen. He confessed to a string of burglaries in La Honda and served six months in the county jail. Five weeks after his release, on May 13, 1974, he was arrested for another burglary. He was sentenced to 6 months to 15 years in prison; however, he was released on parole after serving a year of his sentence.

Criminal justice record

1960s