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Ruben
GARZA
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Robbery ?
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: December 1,
1999
Date of arrest:
Next day
Date of birth:
March 26,
1980
Victims profile: Ellen Franco and Lance Rush
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on September 20, 2004
INMATE 190487
GARZA, RUBEN
Ellen Franco separated from her husband, Larry
Franco, and moved into the home of Jennifer Farley and Lance Rush.
Ruben Garza who is Larry Franco's nephew, went to
the Franco/Rush residence on the night of December 1, 1999,
ostensibly to convince Ellen to reconcile with Larry.
However, after Garza entered the Farley/Rush home,
he drew a handgun and shot Ellen Franco twice. Jennifer and Lance
attempted to escape the same fate by locking themselves in a bedroom,
where Jennifer hid in a closet.
Garza broke through the bedroom door and began
struggling with Lance. Garza shot Lance three times and sustained a
gunshot wound to his own arm. Jennifer called 9-1-1 after Garza fled.
Despite the efforts of paramedics and emergency
surgeons, both Ellen and Lance died from their gunshot wounds.
Police arrested Garza the following day.
PROCEEDINGS
Presiding Judge: Hon. Gregory H. Martin
Prosecutor: Mark Barry & George Gialketsis
Defense Counsel: James Cleary & Christopher Dupont
Start of Trial: May 27, 2004
Verdict: August 26, 2004
Sentencing: September 20, 2004
Aggravating Circumstances
Convicted of one or more homicides during commission of offense
PUBLISHED OPINIONS
[Direct Appeal Pending Before the Arizona Supreme Court]
Ruben Garza—Latino, age 19
Sentenced to death in Maricopa County, Arizona
By: A jury
Date of crime: 12/1/99
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Garza and an
unknown other person burglarized the home of Garza’s aunt by
marriage. The aunt was shot twice in the head. A man who also
occupied the home was shot multiple times during a struggle. The
prosecution alleged robbery as a motive, but the jury did not find
it as an aggravating circumstance. The defense argued that Garza had
only confessed to being present in the home, and that there was
insufficient evidence that he had inflicted any violence on the
victims. In mitigation, the defense offered his youthful age (19),
his lack of any criminal record, and friends and relatives to attest
to his non-violent character.
Prosecutor(s): No information
Defense lawyer(s): James Cleary, Christopher Dupont
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Garza was
convicted by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury of two counts of
first-degree murder. The jury found the state had proved the multiple
homicides aggravator (A.R.S. §13-751(F)(8)) as to each murder, and
determined that Garza should be sentenced to life imprisonment for one
murder and death for the other. Direct appeal of death sentence with
independent review.
AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES:
(F)(8) (MULTIPLE HOMICIDES) – UPHELD The statutory requirement that the multiple murders be
“temporally, spatially and motivationally related” to each other was
satisfied. Both victims were shot in the same house, one shortly
after the other. The two homicides were also motivationally related.
Garza shot the first victim in the living room and then went down
the hallway to the bedroom and shot the other victim.
MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES:
The Court independently found:
Age (G)(5): Garza was 19 years old at
the time of the murders: Of diminished significance when the
defendant is a major participant in the crime, especially when he
plans it in advance
Good character and lack of prior criminal
record: Also accorded less weight because crime planned in
advance
Stress: Lack of causal connection to the
crime also diminishes this mitigation
The Court found that the mitigation was not
sufficiently substantial to call for leniency.
JUDGMENT: Convictions and death
sentence affirmed.
