Gary Lee Sampson

Gary Lee Sampson
Born(1959-09-29)September 29, 1959
Weymouth, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 21, 2021(2021-12-21) (aged 62)
MCFP Springfield, Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Criminal statusDeceased
Children3
Conviction(s)Carjacking resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 2119) (2 counts)
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims3
DateJuly 24–30, 2001
CountryUnited States
Location(s)Taunton, Massachusetts
Kingston, Massachusetts
Concord, New Hampshire
WeaponsKnife

Gary Lee Sampson (September 29, 1959 – December 21, 2021) was an American bank robber and later spree killer who killed three people and was sentenced to death by a federal jury in Massachusetts.

During three days in 2001, Sampson killed three strangers – retiree Philip McCloskey in Marshfield, Massachusetts, college student Jonathan Rizzo in Abington, Massachusetts, and Robert Whitney in Meredith, New Hampshire. He also attempted to kill a fourth victim and stranger, William Gregory, in Plymouth, Vermont. Sampson killed McCloskey and Rizzo after they picked him up hitch-hiking, stabbing them to death. Shortly after that he strangled Whitney. Sampson pleaded guilty to the three killings on September 9, 2003, and was sentenced to death on December 23, 2003, by a federal jury in Massachusetts.[1][2] He received the death penalty for the two Massachusetts killings, and a life sentence for the New Hampshire case.[3]

After Sampson pleaded guilty, a federal jury decided whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison. The defense introduced mental health experts to testify that Sampson had dyslexia as a child, had bipolar disorder, and "suffered from a significant mental impairment" during the killings. A psychiatrist called by the government testified that Sampson did not have any mitigating mental impairment; he was intelligent but violent and deeply antisocial, with antisocial personality disorder.[4][5][6][7] The jury of 12 unanimously returned a sentence of death.

In 2011, Sampson's death sentence was thrown out due to juror misconduct, and he was scheduled for a second sentencing trial on September 16, 2015.[8][9] He was again sentenced to death on January 9, 2017.[10] He died in 2021 at the age of 62, presumably from end stage liver disease.

  1. ^ "TIMELINE: Gary Sampson's life of crime and punishment". The Patriot Ledger. August 30, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  2. ^ "Death for Sampson". The Boston Globe. December 24, 2003. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  3. ^ "Feds cite prison misconduct in carjack death penalty case". WCVB. March 31, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  4. ^ Shelley Murphy (December 19, 2003). "Sampson jury hears pleas for life, death". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Milton J. Valencia (December 20, 2013). "Prosecutors again seek death penalty for serial killer". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 19, 2015. At the original trial, Sampson's lawyers had argued several mitigating factors. They noted that he had tried to surrender to authorities before the first murder, but an FBI clerk accidentally disconnected the call. Reportedly this angered Sampson and contributed to his serial murders.
  6. ^ Shelley Murphy (May 21, 2004). "Murder victim's family sues FBI over disconnected call Says clerk's error led to rampage by Gary Sampson". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  7. ^ Elizabeth Mehren (November 6, 2003). "Death Debated for a Confessed Killer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  8. ^ Neal Simpson, The Patriot Ledger (April 21, 2015). "Judge refuses to rule out death penalty for killer Gary Lee Sampson". WCVB. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  9. ^ Denise Lavoie, AP Legal Affairs Writer (September 10, 2015). "Massachusetts Death Penalty Retrial Halted in Carjack Deaths". Retrieved November 20, 2015. The retrial of a man sentenced to death for killing two Massachusetts residents in 2001 is stalled while prosecutors decide whether to appeal a federal judge's refusal to step down from the case.
  10. ^ "Gary Lee Sampson gets the death penalty - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.