Murder of Polly Klaas#Marc Klaas
{{Short description|American murder case}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Polly Klaas
| image = Polly Klaas.jpg
| image_caption =
| birth_name = Polly Hannah Klaas
| birth_date = {{birth date|1981|01|03}}
| birth_place = Fairfax, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|10|01|1981|01|03}}
| death_place = Petaluma, California, U.S.
| body_discovered = December 4, 1993
| death_cause = Strangulation
| website = {{URL|pollyklaas.org}}
}}
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 12, 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/polly-smiling-killer-death-sentence-article-1.741066|title=Polly's Smiling Killer Gets Death Sentence|last=Kennedy|first=Helen|date=August 6, 1996|newspaper=The New York Daily News|access-date=January 28, 2009}}
Background
On October 1, 1993, Polly Klaas and two friends were having a slumber party. Around 10:30 pm, an intoxicated man named Richard Allen Davis entered her bedroom, carrying a knife from Eve Nichol's kitchen. He told the girls that 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.pollyklaas.org/about/pollys-story.html|title=Polly's Story|work=pollyklaas.org|date=May 11, 2021 }} Over the next two months, about 4,000 people helped search for Klaas.{{cite news|last1=Howe|first1=Kevin|title=City nearly demolishes Polly Klaas bench in Pacific Grove – The Mercury News|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2011/09/15/city-nearly-demolishes-polly-klaas-bench-in-pacific-grove/|access-date=April 24, 2017|work=MediaNews, Monterey County Herald|publisher=The Mercury News|date=August 13, 2016}} Davis was arrested two months after the kidnapping and led the police to Klaas' body, which was buried in a shallow grave in Sonoma County.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-31 |title=Judge to mull overturning Polly Klaas killer Richard Allen Davis' death sentence - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polly-klaas-killer-richard-allen-davis-seeks-death-sentence-overturned/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}
Conviction
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.{{cite web|url=http://townhall.com/columnists/debrajsaunders/2009/03/12/richard_allen_davis_safe_on_death_row/page/full/|title=Richard Allen Davis: Safe on Death Row|work=townhall.com|access-date=January 18, 2013|archive-date=February 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227224752/http://townhall.com/columnists/debrajsaunders/2009/03/12/richard_allen_davis_safe_on_death_row/page/full/|url-status=dead}} 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{{cite news|last1=Locke|first1=Michelle|title=The Polly Klaas story unfolded through a veil of many tears|url=http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19960811/NEWS/308119990|access-date=April 24, 2017|agency=Associated Press|publisher=southcoasttoday.com|date=August 11, 1996|location=SAN JOSE, Calif.|language=en}} and later saying that Klaas's last words just before he killed her implied that her father molested her.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/27/us/before-being-sentenced-to-die-killer-disrupts-a-courtroom.html|title=Before Being Sentenced to Die, Killer Disrupts a Courtroom|date=September 27, 1996|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 5, 2017|via=www.nytimes.com}} Judge Thomas Hastings then formally sentenced Davis to death,{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Helen|title=POLLY'S SMILING KILLER GETS DEATH SENTENCE|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/polly-smiling-killer-death-sentence-article-1.741066|access-date=April 24, 2017|work=NY Daily News|date=August 6, 1996|language=en}} 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.{{cite web | last=Dowd | first=Katie | title=San Quentin's most infamous death row inmates are being moved | website=SFGATE | date=2023-03-27 | url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/san-quentin-death-row-inmates-moved-17856252.php | access-date=2023-06-03}}
Winona Ryder
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' favorite book.[https://ew.com/article/1994/03/11/little-women-kicks-hollywood-trend/ 'Women' on the Verge] ; last accessed December 31, 2007.
Aftermath and legacy
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' father, Marc Klaas, became a child advocate and established the Polly Klaas Foundation (formerly the KlaasKids Foundation). {{cite web|url=http://www.wbko.com/tech/headlines/22214009.html |title=WBKO Talks With Child Advocate Marc Klaas About KlaasKids Foundation |last=Provenzano |first=Sam |date=June 27, 2008 |publisher=wbko.com |access-date=January 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006064801/http://www.wbko.com/tech/headlines/22214009.html |archive-date=October 6, 2008 }} 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 building safety issues and a lack of funding. In November 2022, after years of fundraising and building improvements, the Polly Klaas Community Theater reopened.{{cite web|url=http://sfchroniclemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1998/10/01/NEWS556.dtl&hw=petaluma&sn=189&sc=241|title=Performing arts center dedicated to Polly Klaas|date=October 1, 1998|publisher=sfchroniclemarketplace.com|access-date=January 28, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207183808/http://sfchroniclemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fe%2Fa%2F1998%2F10%2F01%2FNEWS556.dtl&hw=petaluma&sn=189&sc=241|archive-date=February 7, 2009}}{{cite web |date=October 6, 2022 |title=After nearly 2 decades, Polly Klaas Community Theater reopens in Petaluma with diverse program |url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/polly-klaas-community-theater-reopens-in-petaluma-with-diverse-program/ |access-date=November 18, 2023 |website=www.pressdemocrat.com}}
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.{{cite news|last1=George|first1=Evan|title=Prop. 36 and how California's 'Three Strikes' law came to be|url=http://curious.kcrw.com/2012/10/3-strikes|access-date=April 24, 2017|work=For The Curious|date=October 24, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n9_v26/ai_15856830/ |title=The right three strikes – three strikes and out law |last1=Franklin |first1=Daniel |date=September 1994 |work=Washington Monthly |access-date=September 6, 2010}}
Polly’s sisters have criticised the three strikes law.
Media
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).{{cite web|title=Cracking the Case:I Couldn't Keep Images Of Polly Klaas Out Of My Head {{!}} Investigation Discovery|url=https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/motives-murders-cracking-the-case/videos/cracking-the-case-i-couldnt-keep-images-of-polly-klaas-out-of-my-head|website=www.investigationdiscovery.com|access-date=April 24, 2017|language=en-us}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thewhig.com/2016/01/08/kingston-girl-hooked-on-acting|title = Kingston girl hooked on acting}}
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.{{cite web|title=American Justice {{!}} Season 5, Episode 26 Free to Kill: The Polly Klaas Murder|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/american-justice/episode-26-season-5/free-to-kill-the-polly-klaas-murder/194507/|website=TVGuide.com|access-date=April 24, 2017|language=en}}{{cite web|title=American Justice: Free to Kill - The Polly Klaas Murder - {{!}} Overview All Movie|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/american-justice-free-to-kill-the-polly-klaas-murder-v245508#MYwO1yML6tFp1MKH.99|website=AllMovie|access-date=April 24, 2017}}
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.{{cite web|title=FilmRise THE FBI FILES – Season 1 Ep 1 "Polly Klaas: Kidnapped"|url=http://filmrise.com/the-fbi-files-season-1-ep-1-polly-klaas-kidnapped/|website=filmrise.com|publisher=FilmRise|access-date=April 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425114538/http://filmrise.com/the-fbi-files-season-1-ep-1-polly-klaas-kidnapped/|archive-date=April 25, 2017|url-status=dead}}{{Third-party inline|date=October 2024}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Flowers |first=Ashley |date=2022-05-09 |title=PRECEDENT: Polly Klaas |url=https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/precedent-polly-klaas/ |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=Crime Junkie Podcast |language=en-US}}{{Third-party inline|date=October 2024}}
ABC aired an episode of 20/20 centered on the Polly Klaas case called Taken In The Night on September 22, 2023.
On January 8, 2024, The New York Times published a guest essay by Polly Klass's older sister, Annie Nichol, titled "My Sister Was Murdered 30 Years Ago. True Crime Repackages Our Pain as Entertainment." In the essay, she criticizes media coverage of the kidnapping, problems with the subsequent Three-Strikes law, and encourages media to be attentive to helping survivors heal. {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/opinion/movies-books-true-crime.html |title=Opinion | My Sister Was Murdered 30 Years Ago. True Crime Repackages Our Pain as Entertainment |work=The New York Times |date=January 8, 2024 |last1=Nichol |first1=Annie }}{{Third-party inline|date=October 2024}}
ABC-7 News Bay Area (KGO) aired an episode of ABC7 Originals, "Struck by Justice: The Impact of Polly Klaas" on March 11, 2024. This documentary marked 30 years since California's Three Strikes and You're Out Law.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-11 |title='Struck by Justice:' Polly Klaas murder led to harsher sentences. Is that the answer to crime? |url=https://abc7news.com/polly-klaas-murder-struck-by-justice-documentary-three-strikes-laws-richard-allen-davis/14493655/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=ABC7 San Francisco |language=en}}{{Third-party inline|date=October 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Tresniowski, Alex. "[https://people.com/archive/polly-alive-in-memory-vol-60-no-12/ Polly, Alive in Memory]." People. September 22, 2003. Vol. 60, No. 12.
- Warren, Jennifer. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-13-mn-57226-story.html 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
- [http://www.pollyklaas.org/ Polly Klaas Foundation]
- [http://klaaskids.org/ KlaasKids Foundation] The Foundation's mission is to stop crimes against children.
- Crime Library [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230095229/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/klaas/1.html Article on Polly Klaas]
{{Portal bar|San Francisco Bay Area|Biography|1990s|Law}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klaas, Polly}}
Category:1990s kidnappings in the United States
Category:1993 murders in the United States
Category:Murder in the San Francisco Bay Area
Category:History of Sonoma County, California
Category:Deaths by person in California
Category:Child sexual abuse in the United States
Category:October 1993 crimes in the United States
Category:Female murder victims