Violent robber who shot dead six victims during two-week killing rampage in 1996 is executed by lethal injection



More than 20 witnesses watched Robert Glen Jones Jr be put to death

Killer who had threatened victim's daughter from his jail cell turned down offer of last meal



Jones took part in fatal robberies with Scott Nordstrom who is also on death row

Execution: Robert Glen Jones Jr was declared dead after being given a lethal injection today

Despite a last-minute hope for an appeal, a robber who killed six people during a two-week crime spree in 1996 was executed by lethal injection this morning.



At least 22 relatives of his victims were expected to attend the execution of Robert Glen Jones Jr, who was declared dead at Florence state prison at 10.52am today.



The 43-year-old was the second person this year to be put to death in Arizona.



Jones was sentenced to death in 1998 after raiding a smoke shop and a firefighters union hall, where he and accomplice Scott Nordstrom shot dead six people.



Last-minute appeals based on his lawyer's claims that the original prosecutor withheld evidence during Jones' trial were rejected by the courts.

The killer declined the traditional last meal, telling assistant federal defender Dale Baich: 'It's just another meal, and there's nothing special about the day to me.'

For the families of his victims, the execution date was welcomed. 'It's about time,' Donna Schoonbeck, whose son-in-law Clarence O'Dell was one of the victims, said.



Ms Schoonbeck, 90, is one of the witnesses believed to have watched as the lethal injection was administered. Mr O'Dell, 47, was shot in the back of the head by Jones, who was on parole at the time after a sentence for burglary.

'He had just gone inside the door of the smoke shop when it happened. He didn't deserve that,' Ms Schoonbeck said, adding that Mr O'Dell had two young children.

Guilty: Robert Jones, pictured at his murder trial in 1998, has been executed

Comfort: Kay O'Dell and Pat Risedort embrace after Jones was sentenced to death in 1998. Many of his victims' relatives attended the execution today

The sickening crimes had a lasting impact on the Arizona communities where they were committed. The Arizona Daily Star reported how Jones remained expressionless at his 1998 sentencing, refusing to look at any of his victims' relatives.

During his time on death row Jones also threatened the daughter of one of his victims after hearing that she had contacted people who knew him.

Jones called Ryanne Costello from jail to threaten her if she continued to ask his friends questions as the young woman tried to come to terms with the death of her father, Richard Roels.



'There was just nothing there. I almost felt sorry for him,' Miss Costello, who attended his execution today, said.

Loss: Bar tender Carol Lynn Noel, left, trusted customers at the union hall, her daughter Carly, right, said



Victim: Thomas Hardman was one of six people shot dead by Jones and Nordstrom in 1996

Court records show that Jones had entered Moon Smoke Shop with Nordstrom on May 30, 1996. As well as killing Mr O'Dell, a second man was wounded and Nordstrom killed another victim who tried to flee.

The two robbers grabbed money from a cash register and fled in a pickup truck being driven by Nordstrom's brother, David.

Co-defendant: Scott Nordstrom who took part in the fatal robberies, is on death row

In a separate raid on June 13, Jones and Nordstrom burst into a Tuscon firefighters union hall, where Jones made three customers bend forward with their faces flat on the bar before he shot each one in the back of the head, prosecutors said.

A bartender who was ordered to open a safe was shot because she didn't know the correct combination for the lock.

The killers, who were convicted of six counts of murder each, were arrested when David Nordstrom contacted the authorities.



Along with Mr O'Dell, Jones was found guilty of killing Thomas Hardman, Maribeth Munn, Carol Lynn Noel, and Arthur and Judy Bell.

He was given a separate life sentence for killing Mr Roels in Phoenix, then using his credit cards to buy cowboy boots and pizza, USA Today reported .



Ms Noel's daughter, Carly Noel-Anderson, has spoken previously of losing her mother, who worked at the union bar.



'My mom loved her job and she was friends with anybody that walked through that door, and trusted, and had confidence about the people of Tucson,' she told Tuscon News Now in 2004.

Leann Bell, the daughter of two of Jones's victims, added: 'When these guys are put to death, I can start a new chapter in my life, but I can't start that new chapter in my life, I can't put it to rest until my parents' killers have seen justice.'

'And they haven't seen justice as long as they're breathing air,' she added.



Sickening attack: Tuscon police officers stand outside the firefighters union hall in 1996 where Jones lined three victims up at the bar before shooting them in the head

Death row: Jones was kept at Florence State Prison while awaiting his execution

As well as the murder charges Jones was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and burglary.

Nordstrom remains on death row in Arizona, where 36 people have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1992.



The U.S. has put 31 inmates to death this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.





