A prisoner in California, sentenced to death for the 1979 murder of his pregnant wife, has died after spending more than 45 years on death row. Jerry T. Bunyard died on July 10 at the California State Prison in Sacramento. He was 76 years old.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced Bunyard’s death, stating, “At 4:44 p.m., Bunyard was pronounced deceased at an outside medical facility by medical staff.” The Sacramento County Coroner is responsible for determining the official cause of death.
Bunyard was convicted of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Elaine Bunyard, and her unborn child. Elaine was found dead on November 1, 1979, in the garage of their home in San Joaquin County. She died from a massive shotgun blast to the head, and her fetus died from lack of oxygen shortly after.
Investigations revealed Bunyard had hired Erwin Popham, a childhood friend, to carry out the murder. Popham, described as a drifter and frequent drug user, initially declined but later agreed to commit the murder for a $1,000 fee. This payment was supposed to be followed by more money from Elaine’s life insurance policy.
Popham attacked Elaine in the kitchen, striking her with frying pans before dragging her body to the garage. Once there, he placed her in a chair and shot her with Bunyard’s pump shotgun. Due to the excessive blood at the scene, Popham abandoned the initial plan to stage the murder as a suicide, instead attempting to make it look like a robbery.
Popham informed Bunyard of the completed task at his construction job in Patterson. This was reviewed by the California Supreme Court. Currently, 567 inmates are on death row in California. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed an executive order in 2019 that temporarily halts the death penalty, affecting all inmates sentenced to death.