Scott Erskine
Scott Erskine | |
|---|---|
Second degree murder | |
| Criminal penalty | California Death Florida Life imprisonment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3+ |
Span of crimes | 1972 – March 27, 1993 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Florida and California |
Date apprehended | 1993 |
Scott Thomas Erskine (December 22, 1962 – July 3, 2020)
In 2020, Erskine became one of a dozen California death row inmates to die in the span of less than two months as the result of a
Early life
Erskine grew up in
Erskine soon began raping his friends, threatening to kill them if they told anybody.[5] Erskine attended Southwest Junior High School in San Diego, California and was placed in "special classes" for the emotionally disturbed. At 15, Erskine escaped from a juvenile detention facility, pulled a knife on a 13-year-old girl and raped her. The next morning, he assaulted a 27-year-old female jogger with a knife.[4]
In 1980, while on his way to interview for a camp counselor's position, Erskine beat a 14-year-old boy unconscious during an attempted rape. He also raped another inmate while imprisoned. Erskine begged the San Diego judge at the time to spare him from adult prison. Despite his mother's pleas to send her son to a
In 1993, Erskine invited a woman, who was waiting for the bus, into his home and held her hostage for several days, repeatedly raping and sodomizing her before letting her go. He was quickly arrested. He was convicted of multiple charges, including rape and kidnapping, and sentenced to 70 years in prison. As a convicted sex offender, Erskine had to submit his DNA to a database.[4]
In March 2001, the
The trial
In September 2003, Erskine went on trial for the two murders. The jurors were shown photos of the crime scene: Sellers was at the entrance of the makeshift fort hanging from a
On the ground lay Keever, his head resting on a pile of his and Sellers' clothes. He was also naked from the waist down, legs and arms bound, his mouth gagged, and his genitals were bleeding from extensive bite marks. He, too, had a rope around his neck. The
Erskine's public defender never denied Erskine killed the boys, but instead focused on Erskine's car accident when he was 5 years old. The public defender stated that Erskine received serious brain injuries that diminished his capacity to differentiate between right and wrong. They argued that life without the possibility of parole was a more appropriate punishment.
On October 1, 2003, the jury found Erskine guilty of murder; however, they could not agree on the sentence. Eleven jurors voted for the
In April 2004 Erskine went before a second jury to decide his punishment for the murder. This jury returned a verdict of death. On September 1, 2004, a California judge affirmed the jury's verdict and sentenced Erskine to death. He was transported to
Florida murder
While awaiting the start of his trial, Florida investigators matched Erskine's DNA in the unsolved case of 26-year-old Renee Baker, who was murdered on June 23, 1989. He was formally charged in 2003, and was sentenced in August 2004. Erskine, who lived in Palm Beach County, Florida, at the time, admitted to raping and killing Baker and pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He was sentenced to life without parole.[8]
Baker drowned when Erskine broke her neck and left her near the bank of the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach. Florida authorities suspect Erskine may be linked to other unsolved homicides.[8][9]
Death
Erskine died on July 3, 2020, after contracting COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. He was 57. Erskine died on the same day as fellow death row inmate Manuel Machado Alvarez, who also died from COVID-19. Both of them had been hospitalized before their deaths.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "California Registered Sex Offender Profile - Scott Erskine". Megan's Law - California Sex Offender Registry. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
- ^ Woolfolk, John (July 29, 2020). "Coronavirus: These killers died on San Quentin's Death Row". The Mercury News. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ a b "2 Condemned San Quentin Inmates Die Of Apparent COVID-19 Complications". July 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Klakström, Josie (August 4, 2020). "DNA Match Brings Serial Killer to Justice". Medium. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ "THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. SCOTT THOMAS ERSKINE, Defendant and Appellant" (PDF).
- ^ Jones, J. Harry (September 22, 2003). "Death penalty focus of Erskine case: Trial begins today in '93 killing of 2 boys". Union Tribune.
- ^ Jones, J. Harry (August 29, 2004). "The hunt for Scott Erskine The long and costly trail leading to Erskine's conviction in slayings". Union Tribune.
- ^ a b "LANTANA WOMAN'S 1989 KILLER SENTENCED". Sun Sentinel. August 28, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ Keeley, Matt (July 3, 2020). "Convicted murderers on death row die of coronavirus complications". Newsweek. Retrieved April 6, 2022.