Richard Allen Davis Trial: 1996

Davis had an arrest record that stretched back more than two decades. He was convicted in 1976 for kidnapping and assaulting a woman and served five years in prison for that crime. In 1984, a second conviction for kidnapping and other charges brought a 16-year sentence; Davis served 8.

Twice after the Klaas abduction, police had had contact with Davis but did not connect him with the crime: About an hour after killing Polly, Davis drove his car into a ditch. Sheriff's deputies from Sonoma County stopped at the scene, and Davis convinced them he was merely a sightseer. The deputies had not received the description of the suspected kidnapper sent out by Petaluma police, and they let Davis go. A few weeks later, Davis was arrested for drunken driving. Police did not associate him with the composite sketch hanging on their office walls.

Richard Allen Davis (foreground) sitting in the courtroom after hearing of his death sentence. (API Wide World Photos)

Police finally caught up with Davis after finding pieces of cloth near the site where Davis drove off the road on October 1. They arrested him on a parole violation. When police told him that a palm print found at Polly's home matched his own, Davis finally confessed to the crime. He told them that a combination of marijuana and alcohol had left him "toasted," and "things got fuzzy after that." Davis described how he let Polly out of the car so she could go to the bathroom. When she returned, he strangled her with a piece of cloth. "She didn't know what hit her," Davis said.