Jess James Gillies

Case information

• Defendant: Jess James Gillies (38)
• Co-defendant/friend: Mike Logan
• Victim: Suzanne Rossetti (26)

Timeline

• January 29, 1981 — Suzanne Rossetti locked herself out of her car at a Phoenix convenience store; Jess James Gillies and Mike Logan helped her get into her car; she bought the men a six-pack of beer and offered them a ride to a riding stable where Gillies worked.
• August 20, 1981 — Trial started.
• August 27, 1981 — Verdict.
• September 28, 1981 — Sentencing.
• June 30, 1983 — Resentencing.
• January 13, 1999 — Jess James Gillies was executed by lethal injection in Arizona.
• January 14, 1999 — The New York Times published a report about the execution.

The offence

• Suzanne Rossetti offered Jess James Gillies and Mike Logan a ride after she bought them a six-pack of beer and they had helped her get into her car at a Phoenix convenience store.
• En route, one of the men grabbed Rossetti, stopped the car, and pulled her to the ground where both men raped her.
• Gillies and Logan drove Rossetti to Papago Park and then to her apartment, raping her at both locations.
• The men rifled her purse and scavenged her apartment for valuables.
• The attackers ultimately took Ms. Rossetti to the Superstitions, where she was pushed from a cliff and tumbling 40 feet down the rocky hillside.
• Gillies and Logan pursued their victim down the hill and found her still alive.
• Rossetti begged for mercy and told the men she was going to die anyway, and asked them to let her die in peace.
• According to Gillies, Logan responded: "That's right, bitch, you are."
• According to Logan, Gillies began calling the victim a whore and a bitch.
• The victim was bashed on the head with rocks until she lost consciousness.
• Gillies and Logan covered her with rocks and drove back to Phoenix in her car.
• Eight hours after the violence began, the men led Rossetti to the edge of a cliff and told her to jump; she refused.
• Gillies punched her; Logan kicked her over the edge.
• The two men climbed down and found Rossetti still alive.
• Gillies began talking to friends about the killing and drove Rossetti's car for a couple days.
• The coroner's report said she was probably still alive when she was buried.
• Court records said Rossetti had pleaded for mercy and told her tormentors: "Leave me alone, I'm going to die anyway."

Investigation and arrest

• Gillies and Logan were arrested after someone contacted police.
• Homicide Detective Jack Hackworth told Gillies he could face execution; Gillies said: "All that, for killing that (expletive)?"
• Logan cooperated with prosecutors and led searchers to Rossetti's body.

Trial

• Presiding Judge: Stephen H. Scott
• Prosecutor: Jeffrey A. Hotham
• Verdict date: August 27, 1981
• Gillies pleaded innocent and went to trial.
• The jury deliberated less than an hour before convicting him.

Sentencing

• Sentencing date: September 28, 1981
• Resentencing date: June 30, 1983
• Gillies faced aggravating circumstances including:
  • Prior conviction involving violence (struck on appeal)
  • Pecuniary gain (struck on appeal)
  • Especially heinous/cruel/depraved
  • Committed offense while in custody (struck on appeal)
• Mitigating circumstances were none sufficient to call for leniency.

Appeals

• State v. Gillies, 135 Ariz. 500, 662 P.2d 1007 (1983).
• State v. Gillies, 142 Ariz. 564, 691 P.2d 1059 (1984).

Co-defendant outcome

• Logan pled guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence.

Outcome

• Jess James Gillies was executed by lethal injection in Arizona on January 13, 1999.
• He offered no last words before an official administered a lethal injection.
• No members of Gillies' family or the victim's family attended the execution.
• Corrections officials said relatives visited Gillies before the execution.

Other details

• The report stated that Gillies and Logan were convicted of abducting, raping and murdering Suzanne Rossetti.
• The report stated Gillies' execution was the 13th since Arizona reinstated the death penalty in 1992.
• Last meal: New York steak cooked rare, 1 ½ cups of sliced mushrooms, 2 eggs, 10 strips of bacon, 2 slices wheat toast w/butter, 3 tablespoons strawberry preserves, 8 ounces milk, 8 ounces apple juice, 32 ounces chocolate milkshake.
• The New York Times reported that Logan was sentenced to life in prison with a chance for parole after 25 years.
• The New York Times report stated that Rossetti had been thrown off a 40-foot cliff but did not die immediately.
• The New York Times report stated that prosecutors said Rossetti begged for mercy before the men stoned her and buried her under boulders and rocks.
• The New York Times report included Jess James Gillies’s age as 38 and stated he was executed "today" on the date of publication.