- Billy Ray Hamilton
Billy Ray Hamilton (died
October 22 ,2007 ) was an American convictedmurder er who conspired withClarence Ray Allen to murder eightwitness es to a crime committed by Allen in 1974. Hamilton met Allen inFolsom Prison in 1979. Allen befriended Hamilton and allegedly offered to pay him $25,000 to carry out the murders. At Folsom Prison, Allen used to refer to Hamilton as his "good dog", though at the time of Allen's trial, he claimed to only have met Hamilton three or four times.After Hamilton was
parole d from Folsom Prison, Kenneth Allen, one of Allen's sons supplied Hamilton with $100. Hamilton and his girlfriendConnie Barbo went toFran’s Market in Fresno,California where one of the witnesses,Bryon Schletewitz worked. OnSeptember 5 ,1980 , Hamilton murdered Schletewitz and fellow employees Josephine Rocha, 17, and Douglas White, 18, with a sawn-offshotgun and wounded two other people, Joe Rios and Jack Abbott. Hamilton shot Schletewitz at near point-blank range in the forehead and murdered Rocha and White after forcing them to lay on the ground within the store. A neighbor, Jack Abbott, who heard the shotgun blasts came to investigate and was shot by Hamilton. Abbott returned fire and wounded Hamilton, who escaped from the scene.Five days after the events at Fran's Market, Hamilton was
arrest ed shortly after robbing aliquor store in Modesto, California. Hamilton carried a list with the names and addresses of the witnesses who testified against Allen at the Kitts trial, including the name of Schletewitz. Hamilton was tried in Contra Costa County, California. The jury convicted Hamilton of three counts of murder, one count of attempted robbery and two counts ofassault with adeadly weapon . As special circumstances making Hamilton eligible for thedeath penalty , the jury found that Hamilton had committed murder-robbery, and multiple murders predicated on the killing of other victims. The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death, and the Contra Costa County Superior Court sentenced Hamilton onMarch 2 ,1981 .Hamilton was on
death row at theSan Quentin State Prison in California where he died of natural causes on October 22, 2007 at the age of 57.External links
* [http://online.ceb.com/calcases/C3/46C3d123.htm People v. Hamilton (1988) Record of events from automatic review]
* [http://markgribben.com/?page_id=113 Clarence Allen] from The Malefactor's Register
* [http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/173625.html Death notice]
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