The Sinister Path of Darrell Keith Rich: From Troubled Beginnings to Execution

Early Life and Troubled Roots

On February 14, 1955, in the sun-drenched state of California, Darrell Keith Rich entered the world. Yet, the promise of life quickly dimmed under the weight of familial discord and personal struggles. Rich, who carried a quarter of Cherokee blood in his veins, was adopted into a family where his mother's strict and domineering nature overshadowed his formative years. This oppressive environment, combined with his mother's occupation of caring for other children, sowed seeds of resentment in young Darrell.

Academically, Rich stumbled, performing poorly in grammar school, which eventually led to being held back. Concerned by his lack of progress, school authorities referred him to a psychologist who harbored fears of Rich's potential for future violence. However, no intervention followed. At the mere age of fifteen, the young Rich displayed suicidal tendencies following his parents' divorce, a life-altering event that saw him move to Southern California with his mother, only to return later to live with his father in the north. His school years were punctuated by suspension for fighting, hinting at the volatile undercurrents shaping his personality.

By seventeen, those undercurrents erupted in a desperate attempt to end his life. After a quarrel with his girlfriend, Rich took a hunting rifle and shot himself in the chest. When this failed, he fired over a police car in a dramatic, albeit unsuccessful, attempt at "suicide by cop." A psychiatric evaluation labeled him as suicidal and in dire need of treatment, yet he rejected all offers for help. The subsequent years were marked by a series of legal troubles, including DUI arrests, road rage incidents, and an assault with a tire iron.

A String of Heinous Crimes

The summer of 1978 brought a chilling wave of terror to Redding, California. It began on June 13, when Rich abducted a 25-year-old woman who was crossing a bridge. He dragged her down a hill, attempting to force oral sex. When she resisted, he brutally beat her, fracturing her skull and leaving her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and was found twelve hours later.

Just six days later, on June 19, Rich abducted a 21-year-old woman, forcing her into his car and driving to a secluded area where he raped her. Her plea for mercy, invoking her infant child, saved her life. Rich brazenly bragged to friends about the ease with which he attacked women, a chilling harbinger of what was to come.

On June 25, Rich kidnapped and raped a 14-year-old girl, releasing her afterward. Then, on July 4, he attacked two women separately. The first, a 19-year-old, was raped and let go, while the second, Anette Fay Edwards, also nineteen, was not spared. Returning from an Independence Day celebration, Edwards was abducted, raped, and bludgeoned to death. Her body lay undiscovered for three days, two miles from her apartment. The autopsy revealed her death resulted from skull fractures inflicted by blunt force trauma.

Two weeks later, Rich struck again, abducting a 15-year-old girl riding her bicycle in Redding. After raping her, he let her go. On August 2, he unleashed unimaginable brutality on 17-year-old Patricia Ann Moore, raping her before crushing her head and strangling her. Her decomposed body, with severe head injuries and broken teeth, was found at a dump two weeks later.

Rich's spree culminated in the murder of 27-year-old Linda Diane Slavik on August 6. Abducted from a bar, she was taken to the same dump as Moore, forced to witness the horror of her predecessor's remains. Rich raped and shot Slavik with a .22-caliber pistol, boasting to friends about her haunting final words, "Don't do it, don't do it." Her body lay just 20 feet from Moore's, with gunshot wounds to the neck and mouth, severing her spinal column and causing instant death.

The final victim of Rich's monstrous acts was 11-year-old Annette Lynn Selix, a child known to him through family connections. On August 13, Rich abducted Selix as she walked to buy groceries. Her last moments were spent in horror as Rich raped her, forced her into oral sex, and then callously threw her off a bridge. Her lifeless body was discovered beneath the bridge in Shasta County, revealing she had been alive when thrown.

Investigation and Trial

The brutal murder of Annette Selix sparked an intensive investigation by Shasta County authorities. Initially, Rich was not a suspect, merely a former employee of Selix's mother. However, a detective's routine interview and a polygraph test changed everything. Rich's fabrications unraveled, and new information surfaced, linking him to the dump where Moore and Slavik's bodies were found. Friends, privy to Rich's grotesque admissions of guilt, came forward, sealing his fate.

Incriminating evidence mounted. A murder weapon was retrieved from his mother's house, and Rich, under the weight of undeniable proof, confessed during a recorded interview, admitting to Selix's murder and eventually all his heinous crimes.

Convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, one count of second-degree murder, and a slew of additional charges, Rich was sentenced to death on January 23, 1981. During this turbulent period, Rich briefly married Loretta Summers in January 1981; their union was dissolved by August, following his conviction.

Judge Michael Daly Hawkins of the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals later encapsulated the horror of Rich's actions: "The crimes were almost unimaginably brutal — savage attacks on defenseless young women, all sexually ravaged. Five [sic] were also murdered: two bludgeoned to death, a third shot in the face, and a fourth — an 11-year-old girl — thrown off a 100-foot bridge to her death. Five other women, ranging in age from 14 to 25, managed to survive; four unhesitatingly identified Rich as their attacker."

Execution and Final Moments

Victims' families unanimously opposed any clemency for Rich. Annette Selix's aunt encapsulated the despair, recounting how her sister was tormented by the image of her daughter in her final moments. Surviving victims shared the sentiment, citing the perpetual loss of peace Rich had inflicted.

On March 15, 2000, at 12:06 a.m., Darrell Keith Rich was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison. He died at 12:13 a.m., joining Patrick Poland in Arizona and Timothy Gribble in Texas as the third execution in the U.S. on that day. In his final hours, Rich declined a last meal, opting only for tea, broth, and Gatorade. His last word, "Peace," hung in the air as he faced the ultimate consequence of his actions.

Rich, who claimed spiritual reformation through his Native American heritage, requested participation in a sweat lodge ceremony to purify his spirit. Prison officials denied the request due to security concerns, marking the end of a life darkened by unspeakable violence.

Sources

• Clark County Prosecutor
• CBS News: Remorse Before Execution
• Los Angeles Times: Killer Held on Death Row Since '81 Is Executed
• FindLaw: People v. Rich
• The Sacramento Bee: 'Hilltop Rapist' put to death at San Quentin
• San Francisco Chronicle: Rich's victims
• Los Angeles Times: Here are the 13 men executed by California since 1978
• Los Angeles Times: Victims' Families Oppose Clemency for Killer
• The San Francisco Examiner: End of a serial killer
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Executed Inmate Summary – Darrell Keith Rich
• ABC News: Serial Killer Executed
• Justia Law: Darrell Keith Rich, Petitioner-appellant, v. Arthur Calderon, Warden, Respondent-appellee
• Record Searchlight: Darrell Rich
• Corvallis Gazette-Times: Killer executed at San Quentin
• Death Penalty Information Center: Execution List 2000
• Death Penalty Information Center: DPIC Analysis
• San Francisco Chronicle: Serial Killer Dies at San Quentin

For more detailed information and references, please visit the Wikipedia page on Darrell Keith Rich.