Richard Delmer Boyer (born 1958) is an American murderer convicted and found guilty of murdering an elderly couple in 1982. He also admitted to murdering another man in 1980.
Background
Boyer, from
La Mirada, California
La Mirada (Spanish for "The Look") is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California United States, and is one of the Gateway Cities. The population was 48,527 at the 2010 census, up from 46,783 at the 2000 census. The La Mirada Theatre for ...
, was at his home abusing
PCP as well as abusing alcohol while watching the 1981 movie ''
Halloween II''. The opening murders in the film were used by him to be blamed (logically dismissed in reality, in court) as a motive.
Crime and arrest
On December 7, 1982, Boyer stabbed to death an elderly couple in
Fullerton, California
Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.
Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...
; he stabbed the husband 24 times and the wife 19 times.
[Skal, p. 168] He was arrested following a tip-off from the victim's son.
He was about to be released by the police when he admitted the crime.
[Skal, p. 169]
Trial
During the trial, Boyer was revealed to be a drug addict. He had consumed both alcohol and drugs on the day of the murder.
He stated that he had driven to the victim's house to borrow money.
At the property, he stated he started "freaking out" and could not remember committing the crime.
The first trial ended in a
hung jury
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again.
...
.
In the second trial, in 1984, a defense psychopharmacologist testified that Boyer had suffered a drug-induced flashback to a horror film, ''Halloween II'', which features a scene with an elderly couple.
The film was shown to the jury, the first time in US legal history that a commercial motion picture had been submitted as evidence at a murder trial.
[Skal, p. 170] The jury found him guilty, and the judge sentenced Boyer to death.
The
California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
ordered a retrial in 1989, stating that Boyer had been denied his
Miranda rights
In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection fr ...
.
In 1991, he was linked to another murder, that of 75-year-old John Houston Compton in 1980, but the District Attorney stated they would not pursue it if it distracted from the forthcoming retrial.
In 1992, Boyer was retried, and he was again found guilty and sentenced to death.
See also
*
List of death row inmates in the United States
, there were 2,414 death row inmates in the United States. The number of death row inmates changes frequently with new convictions, appellate decisions overturning conviction or sentence alone, commutations, or deaths (through execution or otherw ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Richard Delmer
1958 births
1982 murders in the United States
American people convicted of murder
Living people
People convicted of murder by California
Place of birth missing (living people)
Prisoners sentenced to death by California
Suspected serial killers