Data File: Robert Jones

Jones was born on Christmas day, 1969 in Tyler, Texas. He was kicked out of his mother’s home at the age of 15 when he dropped out of school and began using Cocaine and methamphetamine.

On 30th May 1996 Jones, with an accomplice, Scott Nordstrom, went to the Moon Smoke Shop in Tucson. Jones immediately shot a customer in the head. One employee escaped and two others were shot at by Jones. One was not hit and the other survived being shot. Nordstrom then shot another employee in the head, execution style having made him lie on the floor face down, Nordstrom shot him in the back of the head twice. Money was stolen which was shared with the lookout, David Nordstrom.

Two weeks later, on 13th June, the pair went to the Firefighters Union Hall in Tucson. Jones executed three customers with shots to the head after forcing them to bend forward and put their heads on the bar. The bartender was shot and killed by Nordstrom after she was unable to open the safe. Cash was stolen from the till.

The pair killed one other, on 23rd August when they went to the home of Richard Roels in Phoenix. He was found bound with duct tape and shot in the head. His bank cards had been stolen.

Phoenix police tracked the use of the credit cards shortly after the final murder. The couple had bought pizzas and a pair of cowboy boots. They then tried to buy ammunition at a gun store but the  shop worker became suspicious, called police and provided them with CCTV photos of the pair.

The police sent the photos to local hotels and one called in identifying the offenders as staying at their motel.

POlice tracked them as they left the hotel and a chase followed with the police helicopter tracking Jones and another accomplice. Following the thefts of several cars, Jones was eventually arrested and was found to be wearing a watch belonging to Roels.

The link to the Tuscon murders didn’t happen immediately. David Nordstrom, the lookout/getaway driver  handed himself in and told police that Jones & Nordstrom were responsible for the killings.

Jones maintained the first 6 murders were carried out by Nordstrom and it was a case of mistaken identity, however he pleaded guilty to Roel’s murder.

Jones received six death sentences. On 23rd October 2013, he was executed by lethal injection. Doctors struggled to find a viable vein to insert the IVs. After almost an hour they opted to inject him via the femoral artery in his leg after Jones joked that with all his years of injecting dope, he could find his own vein if they freed his hands.

His last words were, “Love and respect my family and friends and I hope my friends are never here.”