Arizona Supreme Court

David Lamar Anthony (born 1948), better known as David Anthony, is a convicted murderer who allegedly killed his wife and her two children. The Anthony murder case and subsequent trial received much media attention in the United States, particularly in Arizona.

Anthony's wife, the former Donna Romero, had been married once before, to Samuel Romero. She had two children from her first marriage, Danielle and Richard Romero.

On July 7, 2001, Donna Anthony and her children were declared as missing by the Phoenix, Arizona police department. Two weeks later, on July 21, David Anthony was arrested in connection with the disappearances.

A well publicized trial followed. Anthony's defense introduced Rosa Romero, who had been married to Samuel Romero. According to court records, Rosa Romero declared that Samuel Romero had a violent character and had threatened her before, and she suspected it was him, not David Anthony, who may have been involved in the disappearance of Donna Anthony and her two children.

Vince Imbordino, a deputy attorney working with Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located at, accused Anthony of killing his wife and her children in order to hide sexual assaults he had allegedly been committing against Danielle Romero. Imbordino also said that Anthony had stolen money from Donna Anthony, and he signaled David Anthony as a man who enjoyed flirting with numerous other women.

On April 1, 2002, despite the lack of physical evidence linking Anthony to the three disappearances, he was found guilty of three charges of first-degree murder.

As time went by, the mystery of Donna Anthony's disappearance as well as those of her children grew, as did the Phoenix police's frustration due to the lack of physical evidence connecting Anthony to it, except for a sample of Danielle Romero's blood and David Anthony's semen that were apparently found close to each other at a mattress in the Anthonys' house.

On October 18, 2005, construction workers who had been contracted to work on the building of a Walmart store found two trash drums hidden under a tree in Buckeye, forty miles from downtown Phoenix. Skeletal remains were found inside the drums.

Police were called to investigate the area, and, after collecting the skeletons, DNA testing was performed, confirming that the skeletons belonged to Donna Anthony and her daughter, who was fourteen at the time of her death.

On October 31, police investigating the area found a third trash bin, with more remains inside. The third trash can was found with help of a metal detection machine that had been loaned by the Phoenix Police Department from the United States Air Force. Maricopa county sheriff Joe Arpaio, a particularly outspoken sheriff, told the Arizona Republic that he was "99 percent sure" that the remains inside the bin belonged to Donna Anthony's son Richard, who was twelve at the time of his death.

Arpaio has expressed his views on the Anthony murder case, saying on a press conference that "(he hopes) to be around however long it will take to see the needle go into (Anthony's) arm", adding that "(he guarantees he) will be at the execution chamber (to witness Anthony's death)".

David Anthony is currently appealing his murder convictions.

David Anthony married Donna Romero on April 15, 1997. He had been living in her home prior to the marriage with Donna and her two children, Danielle and Richard.

On July 7, 2001, Donna and her two children were to travel by plane to Ohio to visit her relatives. However, they never checked in for the flight. The last person to see Donna and her children alive was Anthony, who claimed that they left the house early that morning.

Police investigators found blood traceable to Donna, Danielle and Richard in and around the home, including the master bedroom wall, a concrete slab under the carpet of the office, the doorframe of Danielle's bedroom, Danielle's bed, Richard's bed, and on the bed-liner of Donna's pickup truck.

In interviews with police and statements to the media, Anthony claimed he and Donna had a very good marriage, that he was faithful to her and that he loved her children and treated them as his own.

In fact, Anthony had engaged in inappropriate conduct with other women, had expressed dissatisfaction with his marriage and his wife, had expressed hatred towards his two stepchildren, and had engaged in financial misconduct surrounding the joint business he and Donna operated.

In the months leading up to the deaths of Donna and her two children, Anthony transferred large sums of money from their joint account into a private account, purchased vehicles, made statements to others that he "was going to get rid of" Donna, referred to Danielle and Richard as "those ******* kids", and violently assaulted Donna.

UPDATE: On October 18, 2005, the skeletal remains of Donna Anthony and her two children, Danielle and Richard Romero, were found in three 55-gallon drums buried beneath a Buckeye, Arizona construction site.   

PROCEEDINGS

Presiding Judge: Hon. Frank T. Galati
Prosecutor: Vince Imbordino & John Boyle
Defense Counsel: Robert Doyle & Herman Alcantar
Start of Trial: February 12, 2002
Verdict: April 1, 2002
Sentencing: March 10, 2004

Aggravating Circumstances

Pecuniary gain
Multiple homicides
Age of victims (both under 15)


PUBLISHED OPINIONS

[Direct Appeal pending before the Arizona Supreme Court]

David Lamar Anthony