In the spring of 1991, a series of violent home invasions in the Phoenix area took a fatal turn, forever altering the lives of two families. On March 10, Christine Mertens, a 40-year-old woman, was brutally murdered in her Chandler home. What began as a burglary escalated into a horrific act of violence that left a community in fear and a family shattered.
The perpetrators, half-brothers James Erin McKinney and Charles Hedlund, forced their way into Mertens' residence with the intent to
burglarize it. A struggle ensued, during which Mertens was beaten and stabbed. The violence culminated when McKinney pinned her to the floor and shot her in the back of the head at point-blank range. The two men then fled, having stolen approximately $120. This senseless act of cruelty was part of a larger crime spree that included another murder just two weeks later, when the pair broke into the home of James McClain and shot him as he slept.
Following an investigation, both McKinney and Hedlund were arrested and stood trial for their crimes. In 1992, separate juries convicted both men on multiple counts, including first-degree murder, burglary, and theft. McKinney was found guilty of the first-degree murder of both Christine Mertens and James McClain, while Hedlund was convicted of first-degree murder for McClain's death and second-degree murder for Mertens'. Both men were subsequently sentenced to death in 1993. The case has since seen numerous appeals, with the Supreme Court ultimately upholding McKinney's death sentence.
