On an April evening in 1984, 18-year-old Robin Lynn Cady, a White female, returned to the mobile home where she rented a room in Phoenix, Arizona, stepping into a scene of terror that would end her life. Earlier that night, on April 11th, two men, John Nabors and Michael Emerson Correll, had forced their way into the residence with the intent to rob the homeowner, Guy Snelling, of money and drugs.
They had already bound Snelling and his girlfriend, Debra Rosen, with duct tape.
When Robin and her boyfriend, Shawn D'Brito, arrived, they too were restrained. The assailants then forced Robin, Shawn, and Snelling into Robin's car and drove them to a desolate desert area north of Phoenix. Debra Rosen was left behind in the mobile home, where she was later found strangled with a shoelace. In the desert, the horrific ordeal continued. Correll shot Snelling in the head, but miraculously, he survived and would later testify against his attacker. John Nabors then shot and killed both Shawn D'Brito and Robin Cady. Snelling recounted that the gun initially misfired as Nabors tried to shoot Robin, who pleaded for her life before he was ultimately successful.
In the aftermath, law enforcement quickly identified the perpetrators. John Nabors was killed in a shootout with police officers. Michael Emerson Correll fled to Las Vegas, Nevada, but was apprehended on April 20, 1984. He faced a multitude of charges, including three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, four counts of kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, and one count of first-degree burglary.
Correll was convicted in October 1984 and, in November of that year, was sentenced to death for his role in the brutal crimes. His conviction was later upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court in 1986. Court documents indicated that Nabors was considered the leader, having planned the robbery, while Correll was a follower. It was also noted that Correll had a history of significant methamphetamine use.
