Editing Ricky Ray Rector (section)

{{Short description|American murderer (1950–1992)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Ricky Ray Rector
| image             = Ricky Ray Rector.jpg
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1950|1|12}}
| birth_place       = [[Conway, Arkansas]], [[United States]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1992|1|24|1950|1|12}}
| death_place       = [[Cummins Unit]], [[Lincoln County, Arkansas]], U.S.
| death_cause       = [[Execution by lethal injection]]
| criminal status   = [[Executed]]
| conviction        = [[Capital murder]]
| sentence          = [[Capital punishment in Arkansas|Death]]
| victims           = Arthur D. Criswell<br>Robert W. Martin
| date              = March 21/24, 1981
| other_names       = Rickey Ray Rector
}}
'''Ricky Ray Rector''' (January 12, 1950 – January 24, 1992) was an American convicted murderer who was executed for the 1981 murder of police officer Bob Martin in [[Conway, Arkansas]]. After killing a man in a restaurant and fleeing, Rector spent three days on the run before he agreed to turn himself in. However, instead of giving himself up, he shot the police officer who had negotiated his surrender in the back. He then shot himself in the head in a [[suicide attempt]]. The attempt effectively resulted in a [[lobotomy]].<ref>{{cite court|litigants=Ricky Ray Rector, Appellant, v. Steve Clark, Attorney General, State of Arkansas; And, A.l.lockhart, Director of Arkansas Department Of correction, Appellees|vol=923 F.2d 570|reporter=Justia|opinion=|pinpoint=|court=United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit|date=January 2, 1991|url=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/923/570/127863/|quote=}}</ref>

A 1991 request for a writ of ''[[certiorari]]'' to the Supreme Court was denied, with Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] dissenting.<ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/501/1239.html ''RECTOR v. BRYANT 501 U.S. 1239 115 L.Ed.2d 1038''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719055306/https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/501/1239.html |date=2018-07-19 }}, [[U.S. Supreme Court]], 24 June 1991. Retrieved  December 9, 2013.</ref> Despite Rector's mental state, then-Arkansas Governor [[Bill Clinton]] made a point of returning to Arkansas to personally handle Rector's case during the [[1992 U.S. presidential election]] campaign.