Actions

AG Brnovich files motion to execute 2 death row inmates

Two Arizona death row inmates will be scheduled for execution after Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a motion to move forward with the executions.

Frank Atwood murdered 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in September 1984. Atwood had been convicted in California of lewd and lascivious acts and kidnapping, committed at separate times against two different children. In May 1984, he was paroled from the kidnapping sentence. Atwood came to Tucson in September 1984 in violation of his California parole. On September 17, 1984, Vicki Lynne was riding her bicycle home after mailing a birthday card to her aunt when Atwood kidnapped and killed her. Atwood left her body in the desert and fled to Texas, where he was later arrested. A hiker found Vicki’s body in the Tucson desert in April 1985.

On January 7, 1978, 21-year-old Deana Bowdoin, an ASU student, was raped, strangled, and stabbed to death in her Tempe apartment. Police couldn’t find her killer and her case became cold. About 20 years later, a Tempe Police Detective re-opened the case and, with the technological advancement of DNA profiling, was able to identify a suspect. Clarence Dixon was already serving a life sentence in an Arizona prison for a 1986 sexual assault conviction. Dixon was indicted for Bowdoin’s murder in 2002. A jury found Dixon guilty and sentenced him to death.

By: Maria Arey

Posted

and last updated

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Two Arizona death row inmates will be scheduled for execution after Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a motion to move forward with the executions, which would start the process that would lead to execution warrants.

On Tuesday, AG Brnovich informed the Arizona Supreme Court of the state's intent to seek warrants of execution for death row inmates Frank Atwood and Clarence Dixon, according to a release from the AGO. The court was asked to schedule a meeting to administer the process.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to establish a firm briefing schedule before filing the execution warrants to ensure the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR ) can comply with its testing and disclosure obligations regarding the drug to be used in the executions.

If the court approves the proposed schedule, then the AGO will file execution warrants 16 days before the court’s conference date. From there both inmates will get one day to respond.

Since both murders occurred before November 23, 1992, both Atwood and Dixon may select either lethal injection or gas under ARS 13-757, according to the AGO.

It has been nearly seven years since Arizona has carried out an execution, the AGO says. If the court grants the motion to move forward with the executions, the state will then have 35 days to carry out those executions.

“Capital punishment is the law in Arizona and the appropriate response to those who commit the most shocking and vile murders,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “This is about the administration of justice and ensuring the last word still belongs to the innocent victims who can no longer speak for themselves.”

Atwood was convicted for the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson.

On September 17, 1984 Vicki Lynne was riding her bicycle home when Atwood kidnapped and killed her. He left her body in the desert, then fled to Texas, where he was later arrested, according to the AGO.

In April 1985, Vicki Lynne's body was found by a hiker in the desert.

Previously, in 1984, Atwood was convicted of kidnapping, which the crime was committed at separate times, and against two different children in California.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: