Within minutes, the alarm was sounded and the manhunt was on. But the escapees were keeping

4.2.12 WC: 191694 Within minutes, the alarm was sounded and the manhunt was on. But the escapees were keeping to back roads in the old white Lincoln supplied by their Uncle Joe, a marijuana dealer. A tire went flat the next day and was replaced with a spare. Later that night, another went flat. There was no spare. At about the same time, a young marine named John Lyons was driving his family on a vacation. About an hour into their road trip, John saw a young man standing on the side of the road next to a white Lincoln waving his arms for assistance. At first John passed; then he stopped, backed up, and pulled next to the Lincoln. Four more men appeared out of the shadows with their guns drawn. One of them ordered the Lyonses out of the car and motioned them into the back seat of the Lincoln. Two of the men got in the car with them, and the others got into the Mazda. The Lincoln bumped along for several miles down the rocky dirt road, with the Mazda following behind. Gary stopped and the Lyonses were ordered out of the Lincoln while the men cleaned out the Mazda, put their guns in it, and loaded the Lyones’ suitcases into the Lincoln. Then Gary and Randy got into the Lincoln and drove it seventy yards farther into the desert. They shot some holes into the engine to disable it and told the boys to put the Lyones into the Lincoln. After the Lyoneses were transferred, Gary turned to Ricky and said, “You boys go back into the Mazda and get the water jug.” Raymond and Ricky were relieved that the Lyoneses would be left with enough water to survive until help arrived. Donny, Ricky and Ray retrieved the water jug from the Lyones’ Mazda and were on their way back when they heard the shotguns fire. They could see flashes of fire through the darkness. They stood transfixed. It seemed to last forever. Then it was quiet. As the boys came closer they could see the carnage their father and Randy had left behind. Their father had murdered an entire family—father, mother, baby and niece—for no apparent reason. They sat immobilized by horror as Randy Greenawalt drove them away in the orange Mazda. Soon thereafter the Arizona police found the Lyons family. Mother, baby and John were in or near the white Lincoln, shot to death. The niece was missing, raising the fear that she had been kidnapped by the Tisons. Several days later she was found: she had been shot once in the hip and had managed to drag herself toward the main road before bleeding to death. The family dog lay dead from dehydration a few feet away from her. The disclosure of this mass murder shocked the public, which had followed the news of the manhunt with a mixture of fear and admiration for the daring prison escape. Now revulsion replaced admiration. The crimes were characterized by the media as a “mad-dog murder spree,” and a “death orgy,” and a “ritualistic execution.” The killers were described as “crazed” and “desperate.” Some people refused to drive at night until the Tisons and Greenawalt were caught. Among the mothers who feared for their families was Sandra Day O’Connor, who was then serving as a Maricopa County Trial Judge. 167 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017254