Darryl V. Richley was executed at the age of 45 for the March 25, 1981 murder of Don Lehman. Hoyt Clines and James William Holmes were also executed on the same day for the murder of Lehman.

The murder

Lehman, his wife Virginia, and their daughter Vicki were at their home when four men wearing ski masks rang the doorbell and forced their way inside. Lehman was shot three times and severely beaten with a motorcycle drive chain in front of his family. More than $1,000 and several guns were stolen, according to court documents. A few days after the murder, Holmes, Richley, Clines, and Ray Orndorff were arrested. They were convicted for the murder and sentenced to death.

Appeals

An appeals court commuted Ray Orndorff's sentence to life without parole. None of the other three received a commuted sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 rejected arguments they were treated like "hogs at a slaughter". It was the nation's first triple execution in 32 years.

Execution

All three convicted murderers declined to make final statements. Clines was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. Fifty-eight minutes later, Richley died on the same gurney, followed by Holmes at 9:24 p.m.

Richley was the 8th person executed by the state of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 since Furman v. Georgia

Furman v. Georgia

Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...

, , after new capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and that came into force on March 23, 1973.