Jessie Ray Moffett

Case overview

Jessie Ray Moffett was sentenced to death and died in prison on May 2, 1998. He killed a man and a woman eight years apart. A Superior Court jury recommended that Moffett die in the gas chamber after deliberating less than four hours, and the same jury convicted him one month earlier in the 1979 murder and rape of 20-year-old Debra Owen.

Timeline

• 1987 — Glen Avery was fatally shot while he was on duty as a security guard at the Kearny Mesa Holiday Inn.
• 1979 — Debra Owen, 20 years old, was beaten to death at the Linda Vista Recreation Center; Moffett was convicted in her murder and rape.
• June 15, 1992 — A jury convicted Moffett on 17 charges and numerous allegations.
• July 15, 1992 — A Superior Court jury recommended that Moffett die in the gas chamber; deliberations took less than four hours.
• September 2, 1992 — Moffett was formally sentenced to death.
• May 2, 1998 — Moffett died in prison.

The offences

Moffett was convicted of:

• The 1979 murder and rape of Debra Owen, 20-year-old, who was beaten to death at the Linda Vista Recreation Center.
• The 1987 murder of Glen Avery, 67-year-old, who was on duty as a security guard at the Kearny Mesa Holiday Inn when Avery was fatally shot.
• Murder capped a monthlong crime spree that included a string of armed robberies.
• Four special circumstances: multiple murders, murder during a robbery, murder during a kidnaping and murder during a burglary.

The killings were described as bludgeoning a young woman in 1979 and shooting a security guard in a holdup.

Investigation and crime spree

Moffett’s murder of Glen Avery capped a monthlong crime spree that included a string of armed robberies.

Trial

A Superior Court jury recommended that Moffett die at San Quentin. The jury was described as a six-man, six-woman panel. The jury decided in less than four hours that Jessie Ray Moffett should die in the gas chamber for killing two people eight years apart.

Verdicts and jury deliberations

The jury convicted Moffett one month earlier in the 1979 murder and rape of Debra Owen and convicted him of fatally shooting Glen Avery in 1987.

Before the verdicts were read in the later proceeding, defense attorney Geraldine Russell asked Superior Court Judge William D. Mudd to poll each juror in his chambers because of alleged irregularities in the jury deliberations.

Russell pointed out that the panel spent an average of only 20 minutes on each count when it convicted Moffett on June 15 of 17 charges and numerous allegations.

Mudd refused to call the 12 jurors into his chambers, saying he was not “in the business of harassing jurors.”

Russell also questioned how the jury could have reached a decision when it announced Monday that it was unable to do so. She noted that the jury asked to be released early Tuesday because one member of the panel had tickets to the All-Star Game. She said:

"I would suggest there's a problem,"

After the verdict was read, jurors spoke with attorneys outside the courtroom and said the death penalty verdict was the most difficult decision they had ever made.

Juror decision and reactions

Jurors said they decided against sending Moffett to prison for the rest of his life because they felt he had no remorse for his crimes and would not change his ways.

It was stated that Moffett showed no emotion as the decision was read by the court clerk, while his wife of five months bowed her head and cried softly. Several members of the jury smiled at the parents of Debra Owen as the panel walked out after announcing its decision.

Frank Owen waited more than 12 years to see his daughter’s killer brought to justice, and he said:

"It's been a long time coming,"

Additional context mentioned

In another trial last year, a jury was unable to decide whether Moffett had killed Owen.

Sentencing

Mudd was described as having formally sentenced Moffett on Sept. 2. The final sentencing date was September 2, 1992.

Outcome

Moffett was condemned in 1992 and died in prison on May 2, 1998.

Other details

• Moffett was described as a “double murderer.”
• The decision was made at San Quentin.
• The jury’s death penalty verdict was recommended after deliberating less than four hours.
• Judge William D. Mudd is named in relation to the jury poll request and his refusal to call jurors into his chambers.