Arizona executes killer of two girls

An inmate was executed Wednesday after being convicted of murdering two 13-year-old girls in an Arizona ghost town where they were raped, strangled and stabbed before being dumped in a partly flooded mine shaft.

Richard Dale Stokley, 60, was put to death at a prison in Florence, Ariz., two decades after he and another man were convicted of murdering Mandy Meyers and Mary Snyder in 1991.

Stokley had no formal last words but earlier expressed regret while speaking with members of the execution team during the lengthy setup time. “I do wish that I could die doing something meaningful, you know, this seems like such a waste,” Stokely said.

The girls were killed after they left a July 4th holiday weekend community camp-out in Elfrida, saying they were going to a restroom. They never returned, instead going with Stokley and Randy Brazeal to the nearby ghost town, authorities said.

Stokley, who was 38 when the girls were killed, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. He also was convicted of sexual assault against a minor.

Brazeal, who was 19 when the girls were killed, was released from prison July 2, 2011, after serving his full 20-year sentence.

While Stokley said both men participated in the slayings, Brazeal denied involvement in the killings. However, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, avoiding a trial that the then-county attorney feared could result in an acquittal because DNA evidence was not yet ready.