On a tragic day in Apache Junction, Arizona, the life of 59-year-old Katherine M. Gohn, a female, was brutally cut short in her own home. The events of December 29, 1947, were set in motion by Angel 'Rocky' Serna, an ex-convict on parole who was determined to acquire $400 to purchase a racehorse.
Serna's desperation led him to the Superstition Mountain Shell Station, where he first attempted to borrow the money from Gohn. When that failed, he returned with a stolen pistol and encountered Gohn's 32-year-old daughter, Fairy Thompson. When she dismissed his robbery attempt as a joke, Serna shot her in the chest in front of her two young daughters, who ran for help.
Following the shooting, Serna went to Katherine Gohn's residence. There, he shot her in the hand, assaulted her, and then fatally shot her in the head. He then stole her car to flee but was apprehended by law enforcement just hours later. Upon his arrest, Serna confessed to the crimes. He was subsequently tried, found guilty of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death. After a series of appeals and reprieves, Angel 'Rocky' Serna was executed on July 29, 1950, becoming the first person to be executed in Arizona's new gas chamber.
