Overview
- Prosecutors filed a formal notice to pursue capital punishment against Ricky Wassenaar, who is charged with killing three inmates at the Tucson state prison complex in April 2025.
- The notice lists alleged aggravators such as multiple murders and prior violent crimes committed in custody, and a judge must find probable cause before a capital trial can move forward under Arizona law.
- Veteran capital defender Victoria Washington withdrew from the case, leaving Wassenaar without court-appointed counsel until the court names new death-qualified attorneys.
- Wassenaar has pleaded not guilty, though he told reporters last year that he killed Saul Alvarez, Thorne Harnage, and Donald Lashley because they were sex offenders.
- Union leaders and advocates say prison officials moved Wassenaar from maximum security to the general population months before the attacks, which they argue enabled the killings.