Jaturun Siripongs
Jaturun Siripongs (, October 19, 1951 – February 9, 1999) was a Thai national who was executed by the state of California for the December 1981 murders of two people during a robbery in Garden Grove, California. Siripongs maintained that he was involved in the robbery but was not the actual killer. Ultimately, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1983 and was subsequently executed in 1999 at San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection. Early life Siripongs was born on October 19, 1951, in Thailand. He was born into poverty and was raised in a brothel after his parents separated. He was physically abused and grew up in a rat-infested compound without running water or electricity. At age 20, he was shot in the head while robbing a department store in Thailand. He was convicted for participating in the robbery and served time in a Thai prison. Following his release from prison for good behavior, he trained as a monk at a Buddhist monastery and then got a job as a cook on a cargo ship. He later aided the U.S. drug authorities in a sting operation and acquired money that allowed him to buy passage to the