Death Row Inmate Robert Comer Set to Die Tuesday

Robert Comer is sentenced to die in Phoenix on Tuesday, an execution he has been fighting for nearly seven years, as reported by The Associated Press.

Comer who went on a killing spree with his girlfriend, Juneva Willis, on February 23,1987 had been camping out at Apache Lake in Phoenix, Arizona. While the two were camping, they met a man name Larry Pritchard who had been in the space next to theirs. Comer and Willis then asked Pritchard if he had wanted to have dinner and drinks with them, Pritchard accepted. A little before 9:00 pm that night, Comer shot Pritchard in the head, killing him instantly.Comer and Willis then stole all of Pritchard's belonging's and headed for their next adventure. That same night around 11:00 pm, the two came across a couple who were camping in the same campground. Richard Brough and his girlfriend were taken by surprise by Comer and Willis. The two then proceeded to steal their property. Comer than hogtied Brough to a car fender as he raped and brutalized his girlfriend right in front of him. Comer and Willis then fled the scene with the girlfriend, leaving Brough tied to the bumper. The girlfriend escaped and ran nearly 23 hours before finding any help as reported by The Arizona Department of Corrections.

Comer and Willis were apprehended the very next day. His excuse for the killings was out of revenge for when he had been in Folsom State Prison in the 1980's for rape and assault with a deadly weapon. Comer told authorities that the guards had beaten and tortured him and other inmates with cattle prods.He then stated that the incidents had turned him in a methamphetamine user when he was released, and he was bound to go back to prison,as reported by The Associated Press. Once tried, Robert Comer was convicted on January 21,1988 and sentenced to death on April 11, 1988.