Arizona executes Frank Atwood for murder of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson

Publish date: 2024-08-25

Arizona put to death a prisoner by lethal injection Wednesday – 35 years after he was convicted in the kidnapping and murder of an 8-year-old Tucson girl.

Frank Atwood, 66, was executed for the 1984 of death Vicki Lynne Hoskinson, whom he kidnapped and killed while on parole on previous kidnapping charges, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.

“To an innocent child whose life was brutally taken and a family that has had to endure decades of suffering, Arizonans will never forget,” Brnovich said in a statement.

Arizona executed Frank Atwood 35 years after he murdered an Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in Tucson. Arizona Department of Correction
Atwood kidnapped and killed Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984. Pima County Sheriff's Dept.

“Today, we remember Vicki Lynne and stand together with her loved ones and the Tucson community as their unwavering quest for justice is finally realized.”

Vicki Lynne was allegedly snatched while riding her bicycle home on Sept. 17, 1984, on her way back from mailing her aunt a birthday card. Atwood killed her, then dumped her body in the desert and fled to Texas, Brnovich said. A hiker found the girl’s decomposed body seven months later.

Atwood had been convicted of kidnapping two children in California and moved to Tucson days before the murder, in violation of his parole, the attorney general said.

The killer, who was convicted in 1987, died at 10:16 a.m. – 12 minutes after he was injected with pentobarbital, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Vicki Lynne’s mother, Debbie Carlson, stepfather, George Carlson and other family members witnessed the execution, the Star reported.

Hoskinson’s mother Debbie Carlson and stepfather, George Carlson witnessed the execution on June 8, 2022. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Friends of Hoskinson’s family hug outside of Arizona State Prison Complex- Florence after Atwood was executed. Rebecca Sasnett/Arizona Daily Star via AP

Also in attendance was the prisoner’s wife, whom he married in 1991 after his conviction and a Greek Orthodox religious awakening, the newspaper said.

Atwood’s death comes just a month after the state executed Clarence Dixon, the first man put to death in the state since 2014. The state had paused capital punishment after the July 2014 execution of Joseph Wood, which saw the inmate injected 15 times and visibly struggling over nearly two hours before he died.

Activists are concerned that Arizona will begin ramping up executions of inmates on death row after the lengthy pause, but state officials didn’t respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment on its future plans.

Vicki Lynne Hoskinson’s mother, Debbie Carlson. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

There are 111 Arizona death row inmates, with 22 who have exhausted all their legal appeals, according to the attorney general.

With Post wires

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