Why An Arizona Man Begged For His Execution

On Wednesday, March 19th, Arizona performed its first state sanctioned execution in over two years.

This would be a story in and of itself, but the circumstances leading to this execution tell a much more unconventional tale than many would expect.

Who is Aaron Gunches?

This all starts with a man named Ted Price, who was Gunches' longtime ex-boyfriend. Price had come to Arizona in 2002 with hopes of becoming a radiology technician. When he discovered his ex had been living in a flop house for drug addicts, the two began arguing on and off, unit the situation escalated on November 14th, 2002, when Price's ex hit him in the head with a telephone.

Later that night, Gunches showed up at Price's apartment in Mesa, ordered him into his car, drove him out to the desert, and shot him four times. Gunches only stopped to dispose of Price's belongings in a nearby dumpster. Price's body wasn't found for days.

Get our free mobile app

Read More:

The U.S. Government is Erasing Arizona's History

Well... He's Asking For It, Literally

Gunches was arrested on January 15th, 2003, after shooting an officer at a traffic stop. He was caught after a 15 hour chase, and forensics were then able to match the bullets used in the shooting to those found at Price's murder scene.

In 2004, Gunches plead guilty to all his charges, and told jurors to "do what you're going to do". Since then, Gunches has been asking, no, begging for his own execution, including writing handwritten letters to then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich in 2018.

Finally, after almost 21 years of asking, Gunches got his wish, and was executed via lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence.

[USA Today][NBC News]