List of United States federal judges killed in office
Encyclopedia
Following is a list of murdered United States federal Judges.
was appointed by President Richard Nixon
to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
. He was assassinated
on May 29, 1979, by Charles Harrelson
in the parking lot outside Wood's home in San Antonio, Texas
. Harrelson was convicted of killing Wood, having been hired to do so by drug dealer Jamiel Chagra
of El Paso
. Wood — nicknamed "Maximum John" because of his reputation for handing down long sentences for drug offenses — was originally scheduled to have Chagra appear before him on the day of his murder, but the trial had been delayed.
was appointed by President Ronald Reagan
to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
. In April 1988, Judge Daronco presided over a bench trial in a sex discrimination and sexual harassment case, in which the plaintiff represented herself. On May 19, 1988, Daronco issued a written decision holding in the defendant employer's favor and dismissing the case. On May 21, 1988, Charles L. Koster, a retired New York City police officer and the father of the unsuccessful plaintiff, shot and killed Judge Daronco while the judge was doing yardwork at his home. Koster then committed suicide.
was appointed by President Jimmy Carter
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
. Vance was killed at his home in Mountain Brook, Alabama
on December 16, 1989, when he opened a package containing a mail bomb. Vance was killed instantly and his wife, Helen, was seriously injured. After an intensive investigation, the federal government charged Walter Leroy Moody, Jr. with the murders of Judge Vance and of Robert E. Robinson, a black civil rights attorney in Savannah, Georgia
, who had been killed in a separate explosion. Moody was eventually convicted of the murder in both federal court and in Alabama state court. Prosecutors speculated that Moody's motive for killing Judge Vance was anger that the appeals court on which Vance sat had refused to expunge a prior conviction of Moody's, though Vance had not been directly involved in that decision. Moody remains on death row in Alabama.
to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
. Roll was fatally shot in the 2011 Tucson shooting
, which occurred on January 8, 2011 outside a Safeway
supermarket in Casas Adobes, Arizona
, when a gunman opened fire at a "Congress on Your Corner" event held by Democratic U.S. House Representative Gabrielle Giffords
; Roll later succumbed to his injuries, as did five other people. Fourteen others were wounded including Giffords. Roll attended Mass
earlier that morning and had decided to attend the event about an hour before the shooting. Roll lived in the area, and a Giffords staff member suggested that Roll "had simply gone to the Safeway where the shooting occurred to shop."
Jared Lee Loughner
was taken into custody and charged by federal prosecutors with Roll's murder. Evidence gathered by federal investigators indicates that Rep. Giffords was the main target, and that Loughner may not have known he was shooting a federal judge.
John H. Wood, Jr.
John H. Wood, Jr.John H. Wood, Jr.
John Howland Wood, Jr. was an American lawyer and judge from the U.S. state of Texas. He served on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas before being assassinated by Charles Harrelson outside Wood's home in San Antonio, Texas, in 1979. Wood's killing was the first...
was appointed by President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
The United States District Court For the Western District Of Texas is a Federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has jurisdiction in over 50 Trans-Pecos, Permian Basin and Hill Country counties of the U.S....
. He was assassinated
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
on May 29, 1979, by Charles Harrelson
Charles Harrelson
Charles Voyde Harrelson was an American organized crime figure who was convicted of assassinating federal judge John H. Wood, Jr., the first federal judge killed in the 20th century...
in the parking lot outside Wood's home in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Harrelson was convicted of killing Wood, having been hired to do so by drug dealer Jamiel Chagra
Jamiel Chagra
Jamiel Alexander Chagra was a Lebanese-American drug trafficker. He was implicated in the May 1979 assassination of John H. Wood, Jr. in San Antonio, Texas....
of El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. Wood — nicknamed "Maximum John" because of his reputation for handing down long sentences for drug offenses — was originally scheduled to have Chagra appear before him on the day of his murder, but the trial had been delayed.
Richard J. Daronco
Richard J. DaroncoRichard J. Daronco
Richard Joseph Daronco was a federal judge in the United States.Daronco was born in New York City. He graduated from Providence College and Albany Law School, and practiced law in White Plains, New York from 1959 to 1971...
was appointed by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
. In April 1988, Judge Daronco presided over a bench trial in a sex discrimination and sexual harassment case, in which the plaintiff represented herself. On May 19, 1988, Daronco issued a written decision holding in the defendant employer's favor and dismissing the case. On May 21, 1988, Charles L. Koster, a retired New York City police officer and the father of the unsuccessful plaintiff, shot and killed Judge Daronco while the judge was doing yardwork at his home. Koster then committed suicide.
Robert Smith Vance
Robert Smith VanceRobert Smith Vance
Robert Smith Vance was a United States federal judge. He is one of the few judges in American history to have been assassinated as the result of his judicial service.-Early life and career:...
was appointed by President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
. Vance was killed at his home in Mountain Brook, Alabama
Mountain Brook, Alabama
Mountain Brook is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, and a suburb of Birmingham. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,821. Mountain Brook is a particularly affluent city within the Birmingham metropolitan area and has appeared in several lists...
on December 16, 1989, when he opened a package containing a mail bomb. Vance was killed instantly and his wife, Helen, was seriously injured. After an intensive investigation, the federal government charged Walter Leroy Moody, Jr. with the murders of Judge Vance and of Robert E. Robinson, a black civil rights attorney in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, who had been killed in a separate explosion. Moody was eventually convicted of the murder in both federal court and in Alabama state court. Prosecutors speculated that Moody's motive for killing Judge Vance was anger that the appeals court on which Vance sat had refused to expunge a prior conviction of Moody's, though Vance had not been directly involved in that decision. Moody remains on death row in Alabama.
John Roll
John Roll was appointed by President George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
United States District Court for the District of Arizona
The United States District Court for the District of Arizona is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Arizona. Court is held in the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and Prescott. The district was created on June 20, 1910, by 36 Stat. 557...
. Roll was fatally shot in the 2011 Tucson shooting
2011 Tucson shooting
On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred near Tucson, Arizona. Nineteen people were shot, six of them fatally, with one other person injured at the scene during an open meeting that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was holding with members of her constituency in a Casas Adobes Safeway...
, which occurred on January 8, 2011 outside a Safeway
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
supermarket in Casas Adobes, Arizona
Casas Adobes, Arizona
Casas Adobes is a census-designated place located in the northern metropolitan area of Tucson, Arizona . The population was 54,011 at the 2000 census...
, when a gunman opened fire at a "Congress on Your Corner" event held by Democratic U.S. House Representative Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Giffords
Gabrielle Dee "Gabby" Giffords is an American politician. A Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, she has represented since 2007. She is the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress...
; Roll later succumbed to his injuries, as did five other people. Fourteen others were wounded including Giffords. Roll attended Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
earlier that morning and had decided to attend the event about an hour before the shooting. Roll lived in the area, and a Giffords staff member suggested that Roll "had simply gone to the Safeway where the shooting occurred to shop."
Jared Lee Loughner
Jared Lee Loughner
Jared Lee Loughner is an American man who is charged with the January 8, 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting that killed six people, including Chief U.S. District Court Judge John Roll. The shooting also left 14 others injured, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords...
was taken into custody and charged by federal prosecutors with Roll's murder. Evidence gathered by federal investigators indicates that Rep. Giffords was the main target, and that Loughner may not have known he was shooting a federal judge.