Carolyn Gleason, aged 36, was tragically murdered on March 11, 1992, in Palo Alto, California. She was a property manager at a real estate office and was killed during a robbery at her workplace. The perpetrator, Celeste Simone Carrington, had previously worked as a janitor in the building and used her knowledge of the premises to gain access. Carrington shot Gleason execution-style while she was on her knees, using a .357 magnum revolver that she had stolen during a prior burglary.
Carrington was also responsible for the murder of Victor Esparza, a janitor at a shoe factory in San Carlos, on January 26, 1992. Both murders were part of a series of robberies and burglaries committed by Carrington, who had been fired from her janitorial job for stealing checks. She used stolen keys and a gun to carry out these crimes.
Following her arrest on March 20, 1992, Carrington confessed to the murders and other crimes. She was convicted of multiple charges, including the first-degree murders of Gleason and Esparza, attempted murder, robbery, and burglary. The jury found special circumstances of multiple murders and murders committed during the commission of robbery and burglary, leading to her being sentenced to death on November 23, 1994.
Carrington's case went through various appeals, with her defense arguing that the police had conducted illegal searches and obtained her confession through false promises of leniency. However, the California Supreme Court upheld her death sentence, rejecting these claims. Carrington's background revealed a history of abuse and poverty, and she had no prior criminal record before the murders.
