State v. Smith

HAYS, Justice.

At about 10 o’clock on the morning of June 6, 1981 Roger Lynn Smith arrived at the Farmer’s Liquor Store on South Central Avenue and Southern in Phoenix. He was with the Abila brothers, who had given him a ride as he hitchhiked to Phoenix; they rode in a car owned by one of the Abilas. Smith entered the store with a loaded sawed-off 20-gauge shotgun, took $158 from the cash register, and killed the clerk, Herman Helfand, with a single shot to the right temple. Smith then returned to the Abila vehicle and the three left the neighborhood.

Shortly after 5:00 in the evening on June…