Robert James Anderson (May 29, 1966 – July 20, 2006) was an American criminal convicted and executed for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. He was born in Great Lakes, Illinois.

Crimes

Anderson kidnapped and murdered five-year-old Audra Ann Reeves, in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

on June 9, 1992. Anderson told police that he kidnapped Reeves as she was returning home from playing in a park. He then took her into his house and proceeded to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

her. He beat, stabbed, and drowned Reeves, then stored her body in a styrofoam ice chest. He then rolled the ice chest to a dumpster. Her body was found later that day by a neighbor throwing out trash. Anderson was identified as the person who discarded the chest, was apprehended by police, and confessed almost immediately. Anderson said he committed the crime after a dispute with his wife of eight months. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

quoted Anderson as saying, "The whole day revolved around the fight. She stormed out of the house and said when she returned she didn't want to find me." At his trial, Anderson requested to the presiding judge, Clinton Averitte, saying "Sir, this may sound callous ... I don't want to hurt anybody any longer, and I want to be executed."

Execution

Anderson was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

on July 20, 2006, at the

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...

. He is buried at

Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery The Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the main prison cemetery in Texas, located in Huntsville and operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The cemetery is colloquially known as Peckerwood Hill. The name originates from "Peckerwoo ...

Footnotes

References

Offender Information
''

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

''. Retrieved on 2013-07-11.
Last Statement
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''. Retrieved on 2013-07-11.
Robert James Anderson
''The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney''. Retrieved on 2007-11-17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Robert 1966 births 2006 deaths 1992 murders in the United States 21st-century executions by Texas 21st-century executions of American people American murderers of children American people convicted of child sexual abuse American rapists American people executed for murder Executed people from Illinois People convicted of murder by Texas People executed by Texas by lethal injection People from Great Lakes, Illinois

Crimes

Execution

See also

Footnotes

References