In February 1993, James Roane, Cory Johnson, and Richard Tipton were convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for an array of criminal activity, including several capital murders, arising out of drug trafficking operations in and near Richmond. Each received at least one death sentence for his crimes, plus various terms of imprisonment. Tipton, Roane, and Cory Johnson were principal "partners" in a substantial drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from 1989 through July of 1992. The conspiracy's operations began in Trenton, New Jersey where Johnson and Tipton, both from New York City, became members. In August of 1990, the conspiracy expanded its operations to Richmond, Virginia where Roane joined the conspiracy in November of 1991. The Trenton-based operation came to an end on June 4, 1991 when police confiscated a large quantity of crack cocaine and firearms. In late 1991, the conspiracy's operations were expanded from the Central Gardens area of Richmond to a second area in Richmond called Newtowne. During the period of the conspiracy's operation, its "partners", including appellants, obtained wholesale quantities of powdered cocaine from suppliers in New York City, converted it by "cooking" [it] into crack cocaine, then packaged it, divided it among themselves, and distributed it through a network of 30-40 street level dealers, "workers." Typically, the appellants and their other partners in the conspiracy's operations took two-thirds of the proceeds realized from street-level sales of their product. Over a short span of time in early 1992, Tipton, Cory. Johnson, and Roane were variously implicated in the murders of ten persons within the Richmond area all in relation to their drug-trafficking operation and either because their victims were suspected of treachery or other misfeance, or because they were competitors in the drug trade, or because they had personally offended one of the "partners." On January 4, 1992, Tipton and Roane drove Douglas Talley, an underling in disfavor for mishandling a drug transaction, to the south side of Richmond. Once there, (Roane grabbed Talley from the rear while Tipton stabbed him repeatedly. The attack lasted three to five minutes and involved the infliction of eighty-four stab wounds to Talley's head, neck, and upper body that killed him. On the evening of January 13, 1992, Tipton and Roane went to the apartment of Douglas Moody, a suspected rival in their drug-trafficking area, where Tipton shot Moody twice in the back. After Moody fled by jumping through a window, both Tipton and Roane pursued. Roane, armed with a military-style knife retrieved from an apartment where the knife was kept for co-conspirator Curtis Thorne, caught up with Moody in the front yard of the apartment where he stabbed him eighteen times, killing him. On the night of January 14, 1992, Roane, Cory Johnson, and a third person retrieved a bag of guns that they had left at an apartment earlier that day. Roane then located Peyton Johnson, another rival drug dealer, at a tavern. Shortly after Roane left the tavern, Cory Johnson entered with another person and fatally shot Peyton Johnson with a semi-automatic weapon. On January 29, 1992, Roane pulled his car around the corner of an alley, got out of the vehicle, approached Louis Johnson, whom Johnson thought had threatened him while acting as bodyguard for a rival dealer, and shot him. Cory Johnson and co-conspirator Lance Thomas then got out of Roane's car and began firing at Louis Johnson. As Louis Johnson lay on the ground, either Cory Johnson or Thomas shot him twice at close range. Louis Johnson died from some or all of these gunshot wounds. On the evening of February 1, 1992, Cory Johnson and Lance Thomas were told that Roane had gone to the apartment of Torrick Brown, with whom Roane had been having trouble. Johnson and Thomas armed themselves with semi-automatic weapons and went to the apartment where they joined Roane outside. The three then knocked on Brown's door and asked his half-sister, Martha McCoy, if Brown was there. She summoned Brown to the door and Cory Johnson, Roane, and Thomas opened fire with semi-automatic weapons, killing Brown and critically wounding McCoy. In late January, 1992, after being threatened by Cory Johnson for not paying for a supply of crack cocaine, Dorothy Armstrong went to live with her brother, Bobby Long. On February 1, Cory Johnson learned from Jerry Gaiters the location of Long's house. Thereafter, Tipton and an unidentified "young fellow" picked up Gaiters and Cory Johnson who were then driven by Tipton to a house where the group obtained a bag of guns. After dropping off the unidentified third party, the group proceeded to Long's house. Upon arriving at Long's house, Cory Johnson and Gaiters got out of the car and approached the house. While Tipton waited in the car, Cory Johnson and Gaiters went to the front door. When Long opened the door, Cory Johnson opened fire, killing both Dorothy Armstrong and Anthony Carter, Bobby Long fled out the front door, but was fatally shot by Cory Johnson in the front yard. In early February 1992, Cory Johnson began to suspect that Linwood Chiles was cooperating with the police. On February 19, 1992, Johnson borrowed Valerie Butler's automobile and arranged to meet with Chiles. That night, Chiles, Curtis Thorne, and sisters Priscilla and Gwen Greene met Cory Johnson and drove off together in Chiles's station wagon. Chiles parked the car in an alley, and Tipton soon drove in behind it in another car, got out, and came up alongside the station wagon. With Tipton standing by, Cory Johnson told Chiles to place his head on the steering wheel and then shot Chiles twice at close range. Additional shots were fired, killing Thorne and critically wounding both of the Greene sisters. The autopsy report indicated that Thorne had been hit by bullets fired from two different directions. Tipton was charged with capital murder for eight of these killings, Talley, Moody, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, and Chiles. Cory Johnson, with seven, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, Chiles, and Peyton. Roane, with three, Moody, Louis Johnson and Peyton Johnson. The jury convicted Tipton of six of the eight capital murders with which he was charged under, Talley, Armstrong, Long, Carter, Chiles, and Thorne. One of the other two charges was dismissed, Louis Johnson and the other resulted in acquittal of Moody. Tipton was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute , engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, eight counts of committing acts of violence, the eight killings, in the aid of racketeering activity, two counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking crime, and two counts of possessing cocaine base with intent to distribute. The jury convicted Cory Johnson of all seven of the capital murders with which he was charged under, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, Chiles, and Peyton Johnson. He was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute, engaging in a CCE, eleven counts of committing acts of violence including the seven killings charged under in aid of racketeering activity , five counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or drug-trafficking offense, and two counts of possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute The jury convicted Roane of all three of the capital murders with which he was charged under Moody, Peyton Johnson, and Louis Johnson. He was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute, engaging in a CCE, five counts of committing acts of violence including the three killings charged under in aid of racketeering activity, four counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking offense and one count of possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute. Following a penalty hearing on the capital murder counts, the jury recommended that Cory Johnson be sentenced to death on all of the seven murders of which he had been convicted; that Tipton be sentenced to death for three of the six murders of which he was convicted Talley, Chiles, and Thorne and that Roane be sentenced to death for one of the three of which he was convicted. Moody. The district court sentenced Johnson, Tipton, and Roane to death in accordance with the jury's recommendations, and imposed various sentences of imprisonment upon each of the appellants for several non-capital counts on which they were convicted and for those capital murder counts on which Tipton and Roane had been convicted but were not given death sentences.

In February 1993, James Roane, Cory Johnson, and Richard Tipton were convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for an array of criminal activity, including several capital murders, arising out of drug trafficking operations in and near Richmond. Each received at least one death sentence for his crimes, plus various terms of imprisonment. Tipton, Roane, and Cory Johnson were principal "partners" in a substantial drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from 1989 through July of 1992. The conspiracy's operations began in Trenton, New Jersey where Johnson and Tipton, both from New York City, became members. In August of 1990, the conspiracy expanded its operations to Richmond, Virginia where Roane joined the conspiracy in November of 1991. The Trenton-based operation came to an end on June 4, 1991 when police confiscated a large quantity of crack cocaine and firearms. In late 1991, the conspiracy's operations were expanded from the Central Gardens area of Richmond to a second area in Richmond called Newtowne. During the period of the conspiracy's operation, its "partners", including appellants, obtained wholesale quantities of powdered cocaine from suppliers in New York City, converted it by "cooking" [it] into crack cocaine, then packaged it, divided it among themselves, and distributed it through a network of 30-40 street level dealers, "workers." Typically, the appellants and their other partners in the conspiracy's operations took two-thirds of the proceeds realized from street-level sales of their product. Over a short span of time in early 1992, Tipton, Cory. Johnson, and Roane were variously implicated in the murders of ten persons within the Richmond area all in relation to their drug-trafficking operation and either because their victims were suspected of treachery or other misfeance, or because they were competitors in the drug trade, or because they had personally offended one of the "partners." On January 4, 1992, Tipton and Roane drove Douglas Talley, an underling in disfavor for mishandling a drug transaction, to the south side of Richmond. Once there, (Roane grabbed Talley from the rear while Tipton stabbed him repeatedly. The attack lasted three to five minutes and involved the infliction of eighty-four stab wounds to Talley's head, neck, and upper body that killed him. On the evening of January 13, 1992, Tipton and Roane went to the apartment of Douglas Moody, a suspected rival in their drug-trafficking area, where Tipton shot Moody twice in the back. After Moody fled by jumping through a window, both Tipton and Roane pursued. Roane, armed with a military-style knife retrieved from an apartment where the knife was kept for co-conspirator Curtis Thorne, caught up with Moody in the front yard of the apartment where he stabbed him eighteen times, killing him. On the night of January 14, 1992, Roane, Cory Johnson, and a third person retrieved a bag of guns that they had left at an apartment earlier that day. Roane then located Peyton Johnson, another rival drug dealer, at a tavern. Shortly after Roane left the tavern, Cory Johnson entered with another person and fatally shot Peyton Johnson with a semi-automatic weapon. On January 29, 1992, Roane pulled his car around the corner of an alley, got out of the vehicle, approached Louis Johnson, whom Johnson thought had threatened him while acting as bodyguard for a rival dealer, and shot him. Cory Johnson and co-conspirator Lance Thomas then got out of Roane's car and began firing at Louis Johnson. As Louis Johnson lay on the ground, either Cory Johnson or Thomas shot him twice at close range. Louis Johnson died from some or all of these gunshot wounds. On the evening of February 1, 1992, Cory Johnson and Lance Thomas were told that Roane had gone to the apartment of Torrick Brown, with whom Roane had been having trouble. Johnson and Thomas armed themselves with semi-automatic weapons and went to the apartment where they joined Roane outside. The three then knocked on Brown's door and asked his half-sister, Martha McCoy, if Brown was there. She summoned Brown to the door and Cory Johnson, Roane, and Thomas opened fire with semi-automatic weapons, killing Brown and critically wounding McCoy. In late January, 1992, after being threatened by Cory Johnson for not paying for a supply of crack cocaine, Dorothy Armstrong went to live with her brother, Bobby Long. On February 1, Cory Johnson learned from Jerry Gaiters the location of Long's house. Thereafter, Tipton and an unidentified "young fellow" picked up Gaiters and Cory Johnson who were then driven by Tipton to a house where the group obtained a bag of guns. After dropping off the unidentified third party, the group proceeded to Long's house. Upon arriving at Long's house, Cory Johnson and Gaiters got out of the car and approached the house. While Tipton waited in the car, Cory Johnson and Gaiters went to the front door. When Long opened the door, Cory Johnson opened fire, killing both Dorothy Armstrong and Anthony Carter, Bobby Long fled out the front door, but was fatally shot by Cory Johnson in the front yard. In early February 1992, Cory Johnson began to suspect that Linwood Chiles was cooperating with the police. On February 19, 1992, Johnson borrowed Valerie Butler's automobile and arranged to meet with Chiles. That night, Chiles, Curtis Thorne, and sisters Priscilla and Gwen Greene met Cory Johnson and drove off together in Chiles's station wagon. Chiles parked the car in an alley, and Tipton soon drove in behind it in another car, got out, and came up alongside the station wagon. With Tipton standing by, Cory Johnson told Chiles to place his head on the steering wheel and then shot Chiles twice at close range. Additional shots were fired, killing Thorne and critically wounding both of the Greene sisters. The autopsy report indicated that Thorne had been hit by bullets fired from two different directions. Tipton was charged with capital murder for eight of these killings, Talley, Moody, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, and Chiles. Cory Johnson, with seven, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, Chiles, and Peyton. Roane, with three, Moody, Louis Johnson and Peyton Johnson. The jury convicted Tipton of six of the eight capital murders with which he was charged under, Talley, Armstrong, Long, Carter, Chiles, and Thorne. One of the other two charges was dismissed, Louis Johnson and the other resulted in acquittal of Moody. Tipton was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute , engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, eight counts of committing acts of violence, the eight killings, in the aid of racketeering activity, two counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking crime, and two counts of possessing cocaine base with intent to distribute. The jury convicted Cory Johnson of all seven of the capital murders with which he was charged under, Louis Johnson, Long, Carter, Armstrong, Thorne, Chiles, and Peyton Johnson. He was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute, engaging in a CCE, eleven counts of committing acts of violence including the seven killings charged under in aid of racketeering activity , five counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or drug-trafficking offense, and two counts of possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute The jury convicted Roane of all three of the capital murders with which he was charged under Moody, Peyton Johnson, and Louis Johnson. He was also convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine base with the intent to distribute, engaging in a CCE, five counts of committing acts of violence including the three killings charged under in aid of racketeering activity, four counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence or a drug-trafficking offense and one count of possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute. Following a penalty hearing on the capital murder counts, the jury recommended that Cory Johnson be sentenced to death on all of the seven murders of which he had been convicted; that Tipton be sentenced to death for three of the six murders of which he was convicted Talley, Chiles, and Thorne and that Roane be sentenced to death for one of the three of which he was convicted. Moody. The district court sentenced Johnson, Tipton, and Roane to death in accordance with the jury's recommendations, and imposed various sentences of imprisonment upon each of the appellants for several non-capital counts on which they were convicted and for those capital murder counts on which Tipton and Roane had been convicted but were not given death sentences.

Jerry Conner was sentenced to die for the murder and rape of Minh Rogers and her 16-year-old daughter, Linda, in 1990. Conner told police that he committed rape, but the lawyers said he is borderline mentally retarded and is unreliable. The rape conviction was used during Conner's 1995 trial to help justify the death sentence. Conner's shoeprint was found in the girl's blood and Conner's confession to police was consistent with crime scene details.

Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were 14 and 16 years old, respectively. They were friends who attended the same high school in Houston, Texas, Waltrip High School. On June 24, 1993, the girls spent the day together and then died together. They were last seen by friends about 11:15 at night, when they left a friend's apartment to head home, to beat summer curfew at 11:30. They knew they would be late if they took the normal path home, down W. 34th Street to T.C. Jester, both busy streets. They also knew they would have to pass a sexually-oriented business on that route and so decided to take a well-known shortcut down a railroad track and through a city park to Elizabeth's neighborhood. The next morning, the girls parents began to frantically look for them, paging them on their pagers, calling their friends to see if they knew where they were, to no avail. The families filed missing persons reports with the Houston Police Department and continued to look for the girls on their own. The Ertmans and Penas gathered friends and neighbors to help them pass out a huge stack of fliers with the girls' pictures all over the Houston area, even giving them to newspaper vendors on the roadside. Four days after the girls disappeared, a person identifying himself as 'Gonzalez' called the Crimestoppers Tips number. He told the call taker that the missing girls' bodies could be found near T.C. Jester Park at White Oak bayou. The police were sent to the scene and searched the park without finding anything. The police helicopter was flying over the park and this apparently prompted Mr. 'Gonzalez' to make a 911 call, directing the search to move to the other side of the bayou. When the police followed this suggestion, they found the badly decaying bodies of Jenny and Elizabeth. Jennifer Ertman's dad, Randy Ertman, was about to give an interview regarding the missing girls to a local television reporter when the call came over a cameraman's police scanner that two bodies had been found. Randy commandeered the news van and went to the scene that was now bustling with police activity. Randy Ertman appeared on the local news that evening, screaming at the police officers who were struggling to hold him back, "Does she have blond hair? Does she have blond hair?!!?" Fortunately, they did manage to keep Randy from entering the woods and seeing his daughter's brutalized body and that of her friend Elizabeth. The bodies were very badly decomposed, even for four days in Houston's brutal summer heat and humidity, particularly in the head, neck and genital areas. The medical examiner later testified that this is how she could be sure as to the horrible brutality of the rapes, beatings and murders. The break in solving the case came from, of course, the 911 call. It was traced to the home of the brother of one of the men later sentenced to death for these murders. When the police questioned 'Gonzalez', he said that he had made the original call at his 16 year-old wife's urging. She felt sorry for the families and wanted them to be able to put their daughters' bodies to rest. 'Gonzalez' said that his brother was one of the six people involved in killing the girls, and gave police the names of all but one, the new recruit, whom he did not know. His knowledge of the crimes came from the killers themselves, most of whom came to his home after the murders, bragging and swapping the jewelry they had stolen from the girls. While Jenny and Elizabeth were living the last few hours of their lives, Peter Cantu, Efrain Perez, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Joe Medellin and Joe's 14 year old brother were initiating a new member, Raul Villareal, into their gang, known as the Black and Whites. Raul was an acquaintance of Efrain and was not known to the other gang members. They had spent the evening drinking beer and then "jumping in" Raul. This means that the new member was required to fight every member of the gang until he passed out and then he would be accepted as a member. Testimony showed that Raul lasted through three of the members before briefly losing consciousness.  The gang continued drinking and 'shooting the breeze' for some time and then decided to leave. Two brothers who had been with them but testified that they were not in the gang left first and passed Jenny and Elizabeth, who were unknowingly walking towards their deaths. When Peter Cantu saw Jenny and Elizabeth, he thought it was a man and a woman and told the other gang members that he wanted to jump him and beat him up. He was frustrated that he had been the one who was unable to fight Raul. The gang members ran and grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her down the incline, off of the tracks. Testimony showed that Jenny had gotten free and could have run away but returned to Elizabeth when she cried out for Jenny to help her. For the next hour or so, these beautiful, innocent young girls were subjected to the most brutal gang rapes that most of the investigating officers had ever encountered. The confessions of the gang members that were used at trial indicated that there was never less than 2 men on each of the girls at any one time and that the girls were repeatedly raped orally, anally and vaginally for the entire hour. One of the gang members later said during the brag session that by the time he got to one of the girls, "she was loose and sloppy." One of the boys boasted of having 'virgin blood' on him. The 14-year-old juvenile later testified that he had gone back and forth between his brother and Peter Cantu since they were the only ones there that he really knew and kept urging them to leave. He said he was told repeatedly by Peter Cantu to "get some". He raped Jennifer and was later sentenced to 40 years for aggravated sexual assault, which was the maximum sentence for a juvenile. When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. The gang members took Jenny and Elizabeth from the clearing into a wooded area, leaving the juvenile behind, saying he was "too little to watch". Jenny was strangled with the belt of Sean O'Brien, with two murderers pulling, one on each side, until the belt broke. Part of the belt was left at the murder scene, the rest was found in O'Brien's home. After the belt broke, the killers used her own shoelaces to finish their job. Medellin later complained that "the bitch wouldn't die" and that it would have been "easier with a gun". Elizabeth was also strangled with her shoelaces, after crying and begging the gang members not to kill them; bargaining, offering to give them her phone number so they could get together again. The medical examiner testified that Elizabeth's two front teeth were knocked out of her brutalized mouth before she died and that two of Jennifer's ribs were broken after she had died. Testimony showed that the girls' bodies were kicked and their necks were stomped on after the strangulations in order to "make sure that they were really dead." The juvenile, Venancio Medellin, pled guilty to his charge and his sentence was reviewed when he turned 18, at which time he was sent to serve the remainder of the sentence in prison. The five killers were tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas, convicted and sentenced to death. See US 5th Circuit Court summary of this case. Six months before Jenny and Elizabeth were murdered, three of their killers murdered another young woman, Patricia Lourdes Lopez. Patricia, a 27-year-old mother of two young children, had run out of gas and was stranded on the side of the freeway on her way home from a football game. She walked to a nearby convenience store, and called someone to come and help her. As she was leaving, she was stopped by Joe Medellin, Peter Cantu and Sean O'Brien, who asked her to buy them some beer since they were underage. They said they would buy her some gas and get her on the road again if she did. She bought the beer and went with the group, unwittingly heading to her death. Instead of taking her back to her truck, the trio took her to a back parking lot in Melrose Park in Houston, where they took turns raping and sexually assaulting her before stabbing her to death. A drunken O'Brien had told Patricia that if she did not cause him to have an erection through oral sex, he would kill her. Her body, nude from the waist down, was found by police on January 4, 1993 with her blood-soaked clothing strewn about her. The medical examiner stated that Patricia was probably on her knees in front of her murderer when she was stabbed, based on the angle of the wounds. She had been stabbed and slashed in the abdomen, throat and back and strangled. This murder was unsolved until after O'Brien was arrested for the murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. Joe Cantu, brother of ringleader Peter Cantu, whose call to police had led to the arrests in the Ertman/Pena murders, had again contacted authorities and told them that he recalled O'Brien bragging about another murder that occurred before the girls were killed. Houston police researched older cases and found a possible match with the unsolved murder of Patricia Lourdes Lopez.  When they tested evidence, O'Brien's fingerprints were matched to some found on a beer can under Patricia's body at the murder scene. When confronted with the evidence, O'Brien admitted his involvement in Patricia's murder. A belt of the same type that was used to kill Jennifer Ertman was found underneath Patricia's neck. Medellin's DNA matched semen samples taken from Patricia's body. Her family was present at his trial for the June murders. "I think they should file some more charges," Cathy Lopez, Patricia Lopez's mother-in-law, said. "I think whatever they did, no matter how much there is, they should stand trial for every single thing." Patricia's estranged husband suffered through a long period of being considered a suspect in his wife's murder. UPDATE: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay 27 hours before Sean O'Brien's scheduled execution in order to consider his appeal regarding the constitutionality of lethal injection. Two days later, the same court reversed itself and lifted the stay, however the death warrant had expired and the process of setting a new execution date will begin again.