Eldon Schurz was sentenced to death by the State of Arizona for the murder of Jonathan Bahe
According to court documents Eldon Schurz and an accomplice would attempt to rob Jonathan Bahe however when Bahe resisted he would be attacked by both men. Eldon would douse the man in gasoline and set on fire
Eldon Schurz would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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ASPC-E Rynning D/Row
ELDON M. SCHURZ 043800
PO Box 3400
Florence, AZ 85132
United States
Eldon Schurz Case
Late one evening, a thirsty Eldon Schurz and two friends approached a group of people drinking behind a motel and demanded a beer. When they refused, Schurz grabbed some and sauntered off.
Schurz and his friends returned later the same night, in search of money and more booze. They arrived in time to overhear a newcomer, Jonathan Bahe, assure the group that if he’d been there when Schurz stole the beer, he’d have stepped in. These words set Schurz off. Overcome by a barrage of punches, Bahe tried to escape by crawling under a nearby chain-link fence, trapping himself in an enclosed area between a stairwell and a brick wall. Schurz found a jug of gasoline sitting nearby, smelled it and then splashed it on Bahe. Schurz lit a small puddle of gas using a lighter, but, seeing that the flame wasn’t spreading, began kicking the burning puddle toward a terrified Bahe. As Bahe burst into flames, Schurz ran.
When police arrived and put out the flames, Bahe was an unrecognizable, charred husk. The blaze had shortened the muscles in his arms and legs, leaving him in a rigid contortion. Remarkably, Bahe was still alive and conscious. In his last excruciating moments, he was able to answer a few questions from the police at the hospital, although his mouth and tongue were so charred that he was nearly impossible to understand. Schurz later said all we needed to know: “He wouldn’t give me the money or the beer, so I burned him.”
A jury convicted Schurz of first degree murder. At sentencing, the judge found one aggravating circumstance: The murder “was especially heinous and depraved.” After considering the mitigating circumstances and determining they did not outweigh the aggravating factor, the judge sentenced Schurz to death.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1644044.html
