Ricky Leon Douglas

Douglas County - Oregon

Born: 9/25/57

Sentenced to death: 1989

Douglas, a methamphetamine dealer, paid a Coos Bay man $10,000 to kill a romantic rival. David Ray Marr killed Charles E. Pease, 29, of Myrtle Creek in 1987. Douglas' wife had gone to live with Pease, her ex-boyfriend. Pease's throat was slit.

Douglas' sentence was later overturned because of a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said Oregon's death penalty law was unconstitutional because it failed to allow defendants to put on evidence that might persuade a jury to hand down a sentence other than death.

Interesting fact: The murder sparked what was at the time the most extensive drug investigation in Douglas County history. Investigators eventually raided nine locations in four counties in 1988, seizing drugs, surveillance equipment and cash.

Status: Serving a life sentence.