Hurry up and execute me! Arizona killer BEGS to end his life 18 years after he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s ex-husband
- Aaron Gunches gunned down Ted Price in the desert and then went on the run
- He shot and injured a police officer while trying to dodge a massive manhunt
- Now he has exhausted his callings and says he wants justice to be done
- If approved, he would be executed by the state’s new AG early next year
Aaron Gunches, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for shooting his girlfriend’s ex-husband in the Arizona desert, is asking to get off death row and be executed by lethal injection.
In a motion filed Nov. 25, Gunches, after exhausting all his appeals, asked the state Supreme Court to enter his death sentence “so that justice may be lawfully served and the victim’s family closed.”
Gunches kidnapped Ted Price in December 2002 after an argument at his girlfriend’s house. He took his victim to the Salt River Reservation near Mesa and shot him three times in the chest and once in the back of the head before fleeing.
After a manhunt involving more than 50 officers, Gunches was eventually captured and arrested. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and first-degree murder and represented himself in court, consistently waiving his right to legal counsel.
Killer Aaron Gunches was sentenced to death in 2010 and has exhausted all his appeals
The country now has until Wednesday to respond.
Court records say that in November 2002, Ted Price visited his ex-wife Katherine Lecher – Gunches’ girlfriend at the time. After about 10 days, the two began fighting, and Lecher hit Price with a phone.
Gunches arrived later that evening and asked Jennifer Garcia – Lecher’s roommate – to drive him and Price to the bus station. However, they ended up on a dirt road near the desert.
Garcia pulled over, and while Gunches checked the trunk, Price got out. Garcia then heard three pops and saw Price fall to the ground; After hearing another popping sound, she saw Gunches standing next to Price’s body with a gun at his side.
Gunches got in the car and Garcia drove back to the house, stopping to dump Price’s belongings in a dumpster.
Price’s body was found a few days later.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (pictured left) is set to leave office soon, and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs (pictured right) will oversee the eventual execution of Gunches, if approved
In January 2003, Gunches was pulled over near the California border by Arizona DPS Robert Flannery. Gunches shot the officer twice, but inflicted only minor injuries. He was arrested almost immediately afterwards.
If a death sentence is approved, it is unlikely that the execution will take place while Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Gov. Doug Ducey are in office. Instead, it will be the signatures of Attorney General-elect Kris Mayes and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs on the paperwork.
Mayes, a Democrat, has previously said, “The death penalty is Arizona law. Each Attorney General takes an oath to faithfully enforce the law.’
Democrat Kris Mayes has said the death sentence is the law and she will enforce the law
In October she said: “We need to take some time to assess how the death penalty has worked and make sure it is done legally and correctly.”
However, neither Brnovich’s office nor the Hobbs transition team have commented directly on the case.
There are currently 110 prisoners on death row in Arizona. The state suspended the death penalty in 2014 after Joseph Wood’s controversial execution, which lasted nearly two hours and required 15 injections. It was reinstated in May of that year, and three prisoners have since been executed.