Summary of Offense:
On January 21, 1997, a Douglas County jury sentenced Mexican citizen Alberto Reyes-Camarena to die for aggravated murders committed on September 17, 1995. He stabbed 32-year-old Angelica Zetina, whom he met working on a farm near Woodburn, 17 times, then stabbed and robbed her sister Maria, 18, nearly killing her. Both women were dumped on the side of the highway. Two days after his conviction and before the punishment phase of his trial began, Camarena and another inmate escaped from a holding cell. Camarena suffered a spinal injury when he fell four stories as the pair climbed down a makeshift rope. Both inmates were re-captured when they were discovered hiding in the basement of a nearby church nearly three weeks later. Camarena underwent surgery and was returned to finish his trial after his recovery.
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