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Frank Atwood was charged with abduction “with the purpose to inflict murder, physical damage, or a sexual violation on the victim” 10 days after Vicki Lynne Hoskinson went missing.
After the discovery of Lynne’s body, Victim-advocacy organizations, as well as law-and-order organizations, sprang with astonishing power.
According to Murderpedia, the media circus went north to Phoenix, and the trial was rescheduled due to the volume of coverage. The trial did not start until January of 1987.
The Arizona Supreme Court has issued a warrant of execution for death row prisoner Frank Atwood, who was sentenced in 1987 for the murder of an 8-year-old girl, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson.https://t.co/TSdnWOwvKf
— azcentral (@azcentral) May 3, 2022
Stanton Bloom, a highly talented defense attorney, took up the case for Lamar Couser and pushed every boundary, both procedurally and physically.
On March 26, 1987, a jury found Atwood guilty. On May 8, he was condemned, and the next day, he began his now-nearly 17-year term on Arizona’s execution row.
His only journey since has been the transfer of death row from the Florence prison’s old Cell Block 6 to the Eyman Unit east of Florence.
That didn’t stop Atwood from marrying Rachel Lee Tenny, 29, of Tucson, on December 17, 1991, at the age of 35. The ceremony, which was witnessed by Atwood’s mother, took place inside the ancient prison.
Atwood has completed enough coursework to get a degree in comparative religion. However, in the eyes of most Tucsonans, who are simply waiting for his execution, he will never be rehabilitated.
Atwood has only burnt one appeal, which was rejected not long after Arizona restarted executions after a 29-year break caused by new laws and directives from the United States Supreme Court.
Finally, Atwood would be Arizona’s second death row inmate to be killed in two months. Clarence Dixon is expected to be executed on May 11 after his mercy bid was refused last week.
Source: This post first appeared on
