Arizona has executed Richard Kenneth Jerf, 55, for the 1993 murders of four members of the Luna family, closing a case that horrified the state and spent 29 years winding through the appeals process. The execution by lethal injection was carried out at 10:40 a.m. on October 17, 2025, at the state prison in Florence.
Jerf spent his final hours in relative quiet, offering no last words as he was prepared for the procedure. His execution followed a last meal the prior evening consisting of a double cheeseburger, onion rings, and cherry pie. The process was delayed by medical staff struggling for nine minutes to establish intravenous lines.
The path to the execution chamber began on a September morning in 1993, born from a grievance over a burglary. Jerf, then 23, believed his friend Albert Luna Jr. had stolen electronics and an AK-47 from his apartment. After police failed to act on his report, Jerf’s anger festered for nine months.
On September 14, armed with a 9mm Beretta and a knife, Jerf arrived at the Luna family home in Glendale. He used a bouquet of fake flowers to gain entry, confronting Patricia Luna, 42. He then methodically took control of the household, binding Patricia and her five-year-old son, Damian.
Over several hours, the home became a chamber of horrors. Rochelle Luna, 18, returned from school and was bound, gagged, stabbed, and her throat slit. Her father, Albert Luna Sr., 47, was later beaten savagely with a baseball bat and handcuffed. Jerf then attempted to kill young Damian.
In a final confrontation, the gravely injured Albert Sr. freed himself and slashed Jerf with a pocketknife. Jerf responded by shooting him six times, killing him in front of his wife and bound son. Jerf then turned the gun on Patricia and Damian, shooting both in the head.
His rampage concluded with a failed attempt to burn the house down. Jerf fled in the family’s car, later boasting of the killings to friends and his girlfriend. His own graphic accounts and evidence found in his possession led police to arrest him just four days after the murders.
In 1995, Jerf initially pleaded guilty to all four counts of first-degree murder, representing himself against legal advice. A psychiatric evaluation found him “cold, calculated, and completely in control.” He was sentenced to death on May 22, 1996, remarking to the court, “They can only kill me once.”
Decades of appeals followed, ultimately failing when the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction and sentence in 2019. In a letter to reporters last month, Jerf offered an apology but did not seek clemency, acknowledging a “brain dysfunction” could not excuse his crimes.
The execution brings a grim conclusion to one of Arizona’s most notorious multiple homicide cases. For the surviving family members, including Albert Luna Jr., who discovered the scene, it marks the end of a 32-year wait for a sentence to be fulfilled. The state has now carried out its ultimate penalty.