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Murder of Polly Klaas

October 18, 2023

Polly Hannah Klaas (January 3, 1981 – October 1, 1993) was an American murder victim whose case garnered national media attention. On October 1, 1993, at age twelve, she was kidnapped at knifepoint during a slumber party at her mother's home in Petaluma, California, and strangled to death. Richard Allen Davis was convicted of her murder in 1996 and sentenced to death.[1]

Polly Klaas
Born
Polly Hannah Klaas

(1981-01-03)January 3, 1981
Fairfax, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 1, 1993(1993-10-01) (aged 12)
Petaluma, California, U.S.
Cause of deathStrangulation
Body discoveredDecember 4, 1993
OccupationStudent
Known forMurder victim
Websitepollyklaas.org

Background Edit

On October 1, 1993, Polly Klaas and two friends were having a slumber party. Around 10:30 pm, an intoxicated Richard Allen Davis entered her bedroom, carrying a knife from Eve Nichol's kitchen. He told the girls he was there to do no harm and was only there for money. Davis tied up both of her friends, pulled pillowcases over their heads, and told them to count to 1,000. He then kidnapped Klaas.[2]

Over the next two months, about 4,000 people helped search for Klaas.[3] TV shows such as 20/20 and America's Most Wanted covered the kidnapping. An APB (all-points bulletin) with the suspect's information was broadcast within 30 minutes of the kidnapping. The broadcast, however, only went out over Sonoma County Sheriff's Channel 1.

Within hours of the kidnapping, in a rural area of Santa Rosa, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Petaluma, a babysitter on her way home noted a suspicious vehicle stuck in a ditch on her employer's private driveway. She phoned the property owner, who decided to leave with her daughter. As she drove down the long driveway to Pythian Road, the owner passed Davis. She called 911 when she got to a service station and two deputies were dispatched on the call. The deputies did not know of the kidnapping or the suspect's description, due to Sonoma Valley units being on Channel 3. The deputies ran Davis's driver's license[clarification needed] and license plate number, but they came back with no wants or warrants. The deputies tried to convince the property owner to perform a citizen's arrest for trespassing. Under California law, a civilian may make an arrest for this type of misdemeanor. The property owner would have had to go to the car with the deputies and say "I arrest you." The deputies then would have taken Davis into custody. The property owner refused.

The deputies called for a tow truck to get Davis's car out of the ditch. They searched it thoroughly before the arrival of the tow truck and did not find evidence of anyone else in the car. The only possible violation was an open container of beer, but Davis was not driving at the time of the deputies' contact and mere possession of an open container was not illegal. Before Davis was allowed to leave, he was instructed to pour out the beer and the deputies filled out an FI (Field Interrogation) card with his information and the FI card was filed.

On November 28, 1993, the property owner was inspecting her property after loggers had partially cleared the area of trees. She discovered items that made her think they may be related to the kidnapping. She called the sheriff's department to report her discovery, and deputies and crime scene investigators were dispatched. A torn pair of ballet leggings were found that were later matched by the FBI Crime Laboratory to the other part of the leggings which were taken as evidence on the night of the kidnapping. A review of calls in the area the day of the kidnapping turned up the contact with Davis, who had only been identified because both deputies had filled out and filed the FI card. Once the identity of Davis was revealed, his palm print at the scene of the kidnapping was also traced to him. Authorities had been unable to match the partial print earlier due to the poor quality of the print left.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, in cooperation with Petaluma Police and the FBI, launched a search of the property and the Pythian Road area during a heavy rainstorm. The first two days of the search were kept as low-key as possible, since Davis was under surveillance at an Indian rancheria near Ukiah, California. When nothing was found during the initial search and the surveillance of Davis also produced no results, the decision was made to arrest him for the kidnapping of Klaas.

While Davis was being interrogated by Petaluma PD and the FBI, a massive search was launched on Friday, December 3. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department was assisted by over 500 search team members from 24 agencies, coming from as far away as Kern County, California, and Washoe County, Nevada. The mutual aid effort was coordinated by the California State Office of Emergency Services (now known as the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services), FBI Crime Scene teams, and numerous other state and federal agencies. The search remains today as one of the largest ever conducted in California. The search continued through Saturday, December 4. The search effort produced other items of evidence, but did not produce any evidence of human remains. The search was planned to continue on Sunday, December 5, but on the evening of December 4, Davis confessed to kidnapping and murdering Klaas and led investigators to her body.[4] He had buried her in a shallow grave just off Highway 101, about a mile south of the city limits of Cloverdale, California. The gravesite is about 20 air miles and about 30 road miles from the search site.

Although Davis admitted to strangling Klaas to death, he refused to give investigators a timeline of the events from October 1. Investigators thought he was fearful that both people who passed him would call the sheriff's department. It is believed that he killed her before the arrival of deputies and hid her body in the thick brush on the hillside above where his car was stuck. He then waited for an undetermined period of time after being escorted back to Highway 12, about 1.5 miles from where his car was stuck, and drove back up to retrieve her body. He was reportedly out of breath, sweating profusely (despite it being a cool night), and had twigs and leaves in his hair when contacted by deputies. It is also believed that he had chosen the gravesite in advance, since it would not have been discovered by a casual observer. The gravesite area would be directly visible from Highway 101, but not the grave itself. He had to drive from the Indian Rancheria in Ukiah once a week to meet with his parole officer and he would have seen any police activity in the area.

Conviction Edit

After a long and tumultuous trial, Davis was convicted on June 18, 1996, of first-degree murder with four special circumstances (robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and attempted lewd act on a child) in Klaas's death.[5] A San Jose Superior Court jury returned a verdict of death. At his formal sentencing, Davis provoked national outrage by taunting his victim's family, extending both middle fingers at a courtroom camera[6] and later saying that Klaas's last words just before he killed her implied that her father molested her.[7] Judge Thomas Hastings then formally sentenced Davis to death,[8] telling Davis that his conduct in the courtroom made the decision to pass the death sentence significantly easier. Davis has been on death row since 1996.[9]

Winona Ryder Edit

Actress Winona Ryder, who had been raised in Petaluma, offered a $200,000 reward for Klaas's safe return during the search. Ryder starred in a film version of Little Women after Klaas's death and dedicated it to her memory, because it had been Klaas's favorite book.[10]

Aftermath and legacy Edit

Klaas's body was cremated and her ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean by her friends and family.

In the wake of the murder, Klaas's father, Marc Klaas, became a child advocate and established the KlaasKids Foundation.[11] He has made himself available to parents of kidnapped children and has appeared frequently on Larry King Live, CNN Headline News and Nancy Grace.

The all-points bulletin was broadcast on the CHP (California Highway Patrol) channel, which only CHP radios could receive. CHP practice changed after the case. The radio system was upgraded and such bulletins are now broadcast on all police channels through a centralized 911 dispatch system.

In October 1998, a performing arts center was named in her honor in Petaluma, but was closed in 2000 because of a lack of funding. As of August 2022, a renovation of the building was expected to be completed by the end of the year so the center could reopen.[12][13]

In the wake of the murder, politicians in California and other U.S. states supported three strikes laws and California's Three Strikes act was signed into law on March 8, 1994.[14][15]

Media Edit

Investigation Discovery re-enacted the kidnapping and murder in Motives & Murder: Cracking the Case: Who Took Polly Klaas? (Season 4 Episode 4, 10/22/2014).[16][17]

The A&E television series American Justice released the episode "Free to Kill: The Polly Klaas Murder". The episode exposes the challenges of the penal system to rehabilitate inmates. Davis had been in and out of jail, his convictions ranging from kidnapping to burglary. The episode originally aired October 23, 1996.[18][19]

The Discovery Channel crime series The FBI Files' first episode's topic was the Polly Klaas case. The episode reveals the details of the FBI agents' collection of evidence and their hunt for the criminal, and originally aired October 20, 1998.[20]

On May 9, 2022, Crime Junkie released an episode on Polly Klaas and discussed how the case set a precedent for California's Three Strikes law.[21]

ABC aired an episode of 20/20 centered on the Polly Klaas case called Taken In The Night on September 22, 2023.

References Edit

  1. ^ Kennedy, Helen (August 6, 1996). "Polly's Smiling Killer Gets Death Sentence". The New York Daily News. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "Polly's Story". pollyklaas.org. May 11, 2021.
  3. ^ Howe, Kevin (August 13, 2016). "City nearly demolishes Polly Klaas bench in Pacific Grove – The Mercury News". MediaNews, Monterey County Herald. The Mercury News. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  4. ^ "Graphic Testimony in Klaas Trial Forces Family Out of Court". Los Angeles Times. San Jose, CA. Associated Press. May 7, 1996. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  5. ^ "Richard Allen Davis: Safe on Death Row". townhall.com.
  6. ^ Locke, Michelle (August 11, 1996). "The Polly Klaas story unfolded through a veil of many tears". SAN JOSE, Calif.: southcoasttoday.com. Associated Press. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  7. ^ "Before Being Sentenced to Die, Killer Disrupts a Courtroom". The New York Times. September 27, 1996. Retrieved December 5, 2017 – via www.nytimes.com.
  8. ^ Kennedy, Helen (August 6, 1996). "POLLY'S SMILING KILLER GETS DEATH SENTENCE". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Dowd, Katie (March 27, 2023). "San Quentin's most infamous death row inmates are being moved". SFGATE. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  10. ^ 'Women' on the Verge; last accessed December 31, 2007.
  11. ^ Provenzano, Sam (June 27, 2008). . wbko.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  12. ^ . sfchroniclemarketplace.com. October 1, 1998. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  13. ^ "Polly Klaas Community Theater anticipates reopening". www.petaluma360.com. October 6, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  14. ^ George, Evan (October 24, 2012). "Prop. 36 and how California's 'Three Strikes' law came to be". For The Curious. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  15. ^ Franklin, Daniel (September 1994). "The right three strikes – three strikes and out law". Washington Monthly. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  16. ^ "Cracking the Case:I Couldn't Keep Images Of Polly Klaas Out Of My Head | Investigation Discovery". www.investigationdiscovery.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  17. ^ "Kingston girl hooked on acting".
  18. ^ "American Justice | Season 5, Episode 26 Free to Kill: The Polly Klaas Murder". TVGuide.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  19. ^ "American Justice: Free to Kill - The Polly Klaas Murder - | Overview All Movie". AllMovie. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  20. ^ . filmrise.com. FilmRise. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  21. ^ Flowers, Ashley (May 9, 2022). "PRECEDENT: Polly Klaas". Crime Junkie Podcast. Retrieved November 11, 2022.

Further reading Edit

  • Tresniowski, Alex. "Polly, Alive in Memory." People. September 22, 2003. Vol. 60, No. 12.
  • Warren, Jennifer. "Officer Details Suspect's Confession in Klaas Case : Courts: Detective testifies that Richard Davis said he strangled the girl to avoid imprisonment for kidnaping." Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1994.

External links Edit

  • Polly Klaas Foundation
  • KlaasKids Foundation The Foundation's mission is to stop crimes against children.
  • Crime Library

October 18, 2023
murder, polly, klaas, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Murder of Polly Klaas news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Polly Hannah Klaas January 3 1981 October 1 1993 was an American murder victim whose case garnered national media attention On October 1 1993 at age twelve she was kidnapped at knifepoint during a slumber party at her mother s home in Petaluma California and strangled to death Richard Allen Davis was convicted of her murder in 1996 and sentenced to death 1 Polly KlaasBornPolly Hannah Klaas 1981 01 03 January 3 1981Fairfax California U S DiedOctober 1 1993 1993 10 01 aged 12 Petaluma California U S Cause of deathStrangulationBody discoveredDecember 4 1993OccupationStudentKnown forMurder victimWebsitepollyklaas wbr org Contents 1 Background 2 Conviction 3 Winona Ryder 4 Aftermath and legacy 5 Media 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksBackground EditOn October 1 1993 Polly Klaas and two friends were having a slumber party Around 10 30 pm an intoxicated Richard Allen Davis entered her bedroom carrying a knife from Eve Nichol s kitchen He told the girls he was there to do no harm and was only there for money Davis tied up both of her friends pulled pillowcases over their heads and told them to count to 1 000 He then kidnapped Klaas 2 Over the next two months about 4 000 people helped search for Klaas 3 TV shows such as 20 20 and America s Most Wanted covered the kidnapping An APB all points bulletin with the suspect s information was broadcast within 30 minutes of the kidnapping The broadcast however only went out over Sonoma County Sheriff s Channel 1 Within hours of the kidnapping in a rural area of Santa Rosa about 20 miles 32 km north of Petaluma a babysitter on her way home noted a suspicious vehicle stuck in a ditch on her employer s private driveway She phoned the property owner who decided to leave with her daughter As she drove down the long driveway to Pythian Road the owner passed Davis She called 911 when she got to a service station and two deputies were dispatched on the call The deputies did not know of the kidnapping or the suspect s description due to Sonoma Valley units being on Channel 3 The deputies ran Davis s driver s license clarification needed and license plate number but they came back with no wants or warrants The deputies tried to convince the property owner to perform a citizen s arrest for trespassing Under California law a civilian may make an arrest for this type of misdemeanor The property owner would have had to go to the car with the deputies and say I arrest you The deputies then would have taken Davis into custody The property owner refused The deputies called for a tow truck to get Davis s car out of the ditch They searched it thoroughly before the arrival of the tow truck and did not find evidence of anyone else in the car The only possible violation was an open container of beer but Davis was not driving at the time of the deputies contact and mere possession of an open container was not illegal Before Davis was allowed to leave he was instructed to pour out the beer and the deputies filled out an FI Field Interrogation card with his information and the FI card was filed On November 28 1993 the property owner was inspecting her property after loggers had partially cleared the area of trees She discovered items that made her think they may be related to the kidnapping She called the sheriff s department to report her discovery and deputies and crime scene investigators were dispatched A torn pair of ballet leggings were found that were later matched by the FBI Crime Laboratory to the other part of the leggings which were taken as evidence on the night of the kidnapping A review of calls in the area the day of the kidnapping turned up the contact with Davis who had only been identified because both deputies had filled out and filed the FI card Once the identity of Davis was revealed his palm print at the scene of the kidnapping was also traced to him Authorities had been unable to match the partial print earlier due to the poor quality of the print left The Sonoma County Sheriff s Department in cooperation with Petaluma Police and the FBI launched a search of the property and the Pythian Road area during a heavy rainstorm The first two days of the search were kept as low key as possible since Davis was under surveillance at an Indian rancheria near Ukiah California When nothing was found during the initial search and the surveillance of Davis also produced no results the decision was made to arrest him for the kidnapping of Klaas While Davis was being interrogated by Petaluma PD and the FBI a massive search was launched on Friday December 3 The Sonoma County Sheriff s Department was assisted by over 500 search team members from 24 agencies coming from as far away as Kern County California and Washoe County Nevada The mutual aid effort was coordinated by the California State Office of Emergency Services now known as the California Governor s Office of Emergency Services FBI Crime Scene teams and numerous other state and federal agencies The search remains today as one of the largest ever conducted in California The search continued through Saturday December 4 The search effort produced other items of evidence but did not produce any evidence of human remains The search was planned to continue on Sunday December 5 but on the evening of December 4 Davis confessed to kidnapping and murdering Klaas and led investigators to her body 4 He had buried her in a shallow grave just off Highway 101 about a mile south of the city limits of Cloverdale California The gravesite is about 20 air miles and about 30 road miles from the search site Although Davis admitted to strangling Klaas to death he refused to give investigators a timeline of the events from October 1 Investigators thought he was fearful that both people who passed him would call the sheriff s department It is believed that he killed her before the arrival of deputies and hid her body in the thick brush on the hillside above where his car was stuck He then waited for an undetermined period of time after being escorted back to Highway 12 about 1 5 miles from where his car was stuck and drove back up to retrieve her body He was reportedly out of breath sweating profusely despite it being a cool night and had twigs and leaves in his hair when contacted by deputies It is also believed that he had chosen the gravesite in advance since it would not have been discovered by a casual observer The gravesite area would be directly visible from Highway 101 but not the grave itself He had to drive from the Indian Rancheria in Ukiah once a week to meet with his parole officer and he would have seen any police activity in the area Conviction EditAfter a long and tumultuous trial Davis was convicted on June 18 1996 of first degree murder with four special circumstances robbery burglary kidnapping and attempted lewd act on a child in Klaas s death 5 A San Jose Superior Court jury returned a verdict of death At his formal sentencing Davis provoked national outrage by taunting his victim s family extending both middle fingers at a courtroom camera 6 and later saying that Klaas s last words just before he killed her implied that her father molested her 7 Judge Thomas Hastings then formally sentenced Davis to death 8 telling Davis that his conduct in the courtroom made the decision to pass the death sentence significantly easier Davis has been on death row since 1996 9 Winona Ryder EditActress Winona Ryder who had been raised in Petaluma offered a 200 000 reward for Klaas s safe return during the search Ryder starred in a film version of Little Women after Klaas s death and dedicated it to her memory because it had been Klaas s favorite book 10 Aftermath and legacy EditKlaas s body was cremated and her ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean by her friends and family In the wake of the murder Klaas s father Marc Klaas became a child advocate and established the KlaasKids Foundation 11 He has made himself available to parents of kidnapped children and has appeared frequently on Larry King Live CNN Headline News and Nancy Grace The all points bulletin was broadcast on the CHP California Highway Patrol channel which only CHP radios could receive CHP practice changed after the case The radio system was upgraded and such bulletins are now broadcast on all police channels through a centralized 911 dispatch system In October 1998 a performing arts center was named in her honor in Petaluma but was closed in 2000 because of a lack of funding As of August 2022 a renovation of the building was expected to be completed by the end of the year so the center could reopen 12 13 In the wake of the murder politicians in California and other U S states supported three strikes laws and California s Three Strikes act was signed into law on March 8 1994 14 15 Media EditInvestigation Discovery re enacted the kidnapping and murder in Motives amp Murder Cracking the Case Who Took Polly Klaas Season 4 Episode 4 10 22 2014 16 17 The A amp E television series American Justice released the episode Free to Kill The Polly Klaas Murder The episode exposes the challenges of the penal system to rehabilitate inmates Davis had been in and out of jail his convictions ranging from kidnapping to burglary The episode originally aired October 23 1996 18 19 The Discovery Channel crime series The FBI Files first episode s topic was the Polly Klaas case The episode reveals the details of the FBI agents collection of evidence and their hunt for the criminal and originally aired October 20 1998 20 On May 9 2022 Crime Junkie released an episode on Polly Klaas and discussed how the case set a precedent for California s Three Strikes law 21 ABC aired an episode of 20 20 centered on the Polly Klaas case called Taken In The Night on September 22 2023 References Edit Kennedy Helen August 6 1996 Polly s Smiling Killer Gets Death Sentence The New York Daily News Retrieved January 28 2009 Polly s Story pollyklaas org May 11 2021 Howe Kevin August 13 2016 City nearly demolishes Polly Klaas bench in Pacific Grove The Mercury News MediaNews Monterey County Herald The Mercury News Retrieved April 24 2017 Graphic Testimony in Klaas Trial Forces Family Out of Court Los Angeles Times San Jose CA Associated Press May 7 1996 Retrieved April 24 2017 Richard Allen Davis Safe on Death Row townhall com Locke Michelle August 11 1996 The Polly Klaas story unfolded through a veil of many tears SAN JOSE Calif southcoasttoday com Associated Press Retrieved April 24 2017 Before Being Sentenced to Die Killer Disrupts a Courtroom The New York Times September 27 1996 Retrieved December 5 2017 via www nytimes com Kennedy Helen August 6 1996 POLLY S SMILING KILLER GETS DEATH SENTENCE NY Daily News Retrieved April 24 2017 Dowd Katie March 27 2023 San Quentin s most infamous death row inmates are being moved SFGATE Retrieved June 3 2023 Women on the Verge last accessed December 31 2007 Provenzano Sam June 27 2008 WBKO Talks With Child Advocate Marc Klaas About KlaasKids Foundation wbko com Archived from the original on October 6 2008 Retrieved January 28 2009 Performing arts center dedicated to Polly Klaas sfchroniclemarketplace com October 1 1998 Archived from the original on February 7 2009 Retrieved January 28 2009 Polly Klaas Community Theater anticipates reopening www petaluma360 com October 6 2022 Retrieved August 5 2022 George Evan October 24 2012 Prop 36 and how California s Three Strikes law came to be For The Curious Retrieved April 24 2017 Franklin Daniel September 1994 The right three strikes three strikes and out law Washington Monthly Retrieved September 6 2010 Cracking the Case I Couldn t Keep Images Of Polly Klaas Out Of My Head Investigation Discovery www investigationdiscovery com Retrieved April 24 2017 Kingston girl hooked on acting American Justice Season 5 Episode 26 Free to Kill The Polly Klaas Murder TVGuide com Retrieved April 24 2017 American Justice Free to Kill The Polly Klaas Murder Overview All Movie AllMovie Retrieved April 24 2017 FilmRise THE FBI FILES Season 1 Ep 1 Polly Klaas Kidnapped filmrise com FilmRise Archived from the original on April 25 2017 Retrieved April 24 2017 Flowers Ashley May 9 2022 PRECEDENT Polly Klaas Crime Junkie Podcast Retrieved November 11 2022 Further reading EditTresniowski Alex Polly Alive in Memory People September 22 2003 Vol 60 No 12 Warren Jennifer Officer Details Suspect s Confession in Klaas Case Courts Detective testifies that Richard Davis said he strangled the girl to avoid imprisonment for kidnaping Los Angeles Times May 13 1994 External links EditPolly Klaas Foundation KlaasKids Foundation The Foundation s mission is to stop crimes against children Crime Library Article on Polly KlaasPortals nbsp San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Biography nbsp 1990s nbsp Law Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Murder of Polly Klaas amp oldid 1179008150, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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