Deputy Kenneth Perrigo
Tomas Verano Cruz
Facts of the Crime:
Sentenced to death in Sonoma County on September 9, 1994 in the October 21, 1991 murder of deputy Kenneth Perrigo. Perrigo arrested Cruz and Carlos Castillo Estrada on the evening of October 21 after they were found passed out drunk in a car in front of the fairgrounds in McArthur. Belligerent, Cruz repeatedly threatened to kill Perrigo during the arrest, court documents show.
Perrigo nonetheless agreed to work overtime to transport Cruz and Estrada halfway to Redding, where he was to meet another deputy to take them the rest of the distance to jail, documents say. Perrigo didn't know Cruz and Estrada had managed to reach under the driver's seat and find the 9mm handgun the deputy had stored there in a fanny pack. Cruz shot Perrigo in the back of the head through the Plexiglas screen that separated the deputy from his charges. The vehicle swerved, rolled over at least once and careened off Highway 299. After the two suspects kicked out the back window and got free from the car, Cruz put down the gun and Estrada picked it up. He shot Perrigo in the neck while the deputy was slumped over the steering wheel, documents show.
Estrada pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
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