Richard Baumhammers was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for a spree killing thtat was racially motivated and left five people dead
According to court documents Richard Baumhammers was former immigration lawyer who would go on a shooting spree targeting minorities. The killing spree started with his neighbor Anita “Nicki” Gordon who was shot and killed before her house was set on fire. Richard would then travel to the Beth El Congregation which was a Jewish synagogue and would shoot into the bullets and spray paint the building with swastikas, Anita Gordon was a member of the synagogue
Richard Baumhammers would then travel to an Indian Grocer where he would shoot and kill 31-year-old Anil Thakur, and shot and injured the store manager who would die from injuries related the shooting seven years later
Richard Baumhammers would fatally shoot Ji-ye Sun, aged 34 and Theo “Tony” Pham, a 27-year-old at a Chinese restaurant. The last victim was Gary Lee who was fatally shot at a Karate studio
Richard Baumhammers would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Richard Baumhammers is incarcerated at SCI Phoenix
Richard Baumhammers Case
On April 28, 2000, during a crime spree lasting approximately two hours, Appellant, Richard Baumhammers, shot and killed Anita Gordon, Anil Thakur, Ji-Ye Sun, Thao Pak Pham, and Garry Lee. He also seriously wounded Sandip Patel, pointed his loaded pistol at George Thomas II, set fire to Mrs. Gordon’s house by using an incendiary device, desecrated one synagogue by defacing it with red spray paint and shooting bullets into it, and desecrated a second synagogue by shooting bullets into it. Appellant was arrested on the day of the crime spree and was found to have in his possession a .357 caliber handgun, spent .357 caliber shell casings, live .357 caliber ammunition, two Molotov cocktails, a can of red spray paint, and a roadmap. Appellant was charged with five counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, one count of aggravated assault, one count of simple assault, one count of recklessly endangering another person, eight counts of ethnic intimidation, two counts of institutional vandalism, two counts of criminal mischief, three counts of arson, and one count of carrying a firearm without a license. At the time of the filings of the criminal informations, the Commonwealth gave Appellant notice of its intention to seek the death penalty and of the aggravating circumstances supporting the death penalty on which it intended to rely.
Following a competency hearing held on May 9, 2000, the trial court determined that Appellant was mentally incompetent and ordered his transfer to a state hospital for treatment. Following a subsequent competency hearing held on September 15, 2000, the trial court determined that treatment had rendered Appellant competent to stand trial. A jury trial on the charges was thereafter held from April 27 to May 9, 2001. During trial, Appellant did not dispute that he had shot the victims; rather, he presented evidence that he had done so while suffering from a mental disease. The jury rejected Appellant’s insanity defense and returned a verdict of guilty on the five counts of first-degree murder and on all of the remaining charges.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/pa-supreme-court/1166214.html