California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a controversial plan to reduce the sentences of all inmates on death row in the state. Among those affected are some of the most notorious serial killers in American history, including the infamous “Scorecard Killer” and Charles Ng, who was involved in the murders of 11 individuals.
In a public letter dated November 5, Newsom revealed that California currently has 548 death row inmates. He decided to exercise his executive clemency powers to change the sentences of all individuals awaiting execution, converting their death sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the list of inmates facing execution includes a number of serial killers and criminals convicted of heinous murder cases. Although these individuals have received death sentences, their executions have not been carried out. Here are a few examples from this list.
Randy Kraft, an 81-year-old from Orange County, is regarded as one of America’s most brutal serial killers and rapists. Convicted in 1989 and formally sentenced to death by a judge, Kraft was found guilty of murdering at least 16 young men throughout Southern California during the 1970s and early 1980s.
He earned the nickname “Scorecard Killer” after a coded list was discovered at the time of his arrest, which supposedly contained the names and details of his victims. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has noted that some also refer to Kraft as the “Highway Killer,” as he primarily targeted young male hitchhikers, often committing his crimes in locations near highways.
After torturing and murdering his victims, Kraft would dispose of the bodies in proximity to highway overpasses, parking lots, or secluded areas. His methods were notably cruel; he frequently drugged his victims before assaulting them, leading to mutilations, including castration, and ultimately killing them by strangulation or suffocation.
Kraft was apprehended on May 14, 1983, when California Highway Patrol officers noticed his vehicle swerving erratically along Interstate 5. Initially, he was arrested for failing a sobriety test, but officers grew suspicious after discovering an unresponsive male passenger in his car, later identified as a 25-year-old Marine who was already dead.
After further investigation, police uncovered a coded list linked to numerous victims, leading to Kraft’s conviction for 16 counts of murder, although investigators suspect he may be responsible for the deaths of over 60 individuals.
Similarly included in the clemency plan is Charles Ng, a figure connected to one of the most shocking serial murder cases in American history. Born into a wealthy family in Hong Kong, Ng, now 65, was convicted in 1999 alongside his accomplice Leonard Lake for multiple kidnappings and murders during the mid-1980s. Together, they murdered 11 people, including two children.
Ng and Lake had transformed a remote cabin in Calaveras County, Northern California into a site for their horrific acts, where they would kidnap and torture their victims before ultimately killing them. Authorities discovered human remains, bone fragments, diaries, and videotapes documenting the abuse of female victims.
Ng was sentenced to death for 11 counts of murder in 1999, while Lake died by suicide in 1985 after his arrest.
Michael Gargiulo, aged 50, was sentenced to death in 2021 for the murders of two women in Southern California and the attempted murder of a third. Dubbed the “Hollywood Ripper,” Gargiulo was notorious for his brutal assaults on women, often targeting those living near him.
In 2001, he murdered a 22-year-old woman in Hollywood, inflicting 47 stab wounds and nearly decapitating her. Four years later, he killed another woman, 32, in El Monte, stabbing her 17 times and mutilating her body.
In 2008, he attacked a woman in Santa Monica, but she successfully fought back and escaped. Later DNA evidence collected from the scene connected him to the earlier crimes. In 2019, a jury found Gargiulo guilty of murdering two women and attempting to murder another, leading to his death sentence in 2021.
Cary Stayner, known as the “Yosemite Killer,” received his own death sentence in 2002 for the murders of four women in 1999. The case attracted national attention when three women went missing during a trip to Yosemite National Park. Their bodies were later discovered in a burned-out rental car and nearby areas.
Stayner, an employee at a hotel in the area, admitted to killing the three tourists, detailing sexual assault and slashing of throats. Investigations subsequently revealed he was also responsible for the murder of a 26-year-old woman that same year.
All four of these serial killers are currently on the death row list in California, and Newsom’s recent decision could potentially spare them from execution. However, it is noteworthy that over 60% of the cases involved multiple felonies committed by the defendants, which will require a review from the California Supreme Court before any reduction in sentences can be finalized.
Newsom stated, “Death row inmates have caused unimaginable suffering to victims, their families, communities, and the entire state. However, as governor, I believe the state cannot take lives in the name of morality.”
The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) publicly wrote to Newsom on October 25, opposing the “one-size-fits-all” approach to reducing sentences for all death row inmates. Prosecutors argue that such a move disregards the individual decisions made by juries and judges in specific cases and fails to fully consider the prolonged pain suffered by the victims’ families.