Sacto 9-1-1

They are among the 41 men sitting on San Quentin's Death Row after committing heinous murders in the Sacramento region or being convicted in area courts. Some of the crimes go back decades, with two of the men condemned to execution for killings dating back to 1979.

Barring a dramatic change in the pace of executions in California, most of these men likely will die of old age on the row after decades in custody.

The Bee has compiled a new photo gallery of the Sacramento region's Death Row inmates that features their photographs and a description of their crimes.

Photo Gallery: Bee releases photo gallery of 41 area death row inmates

Here are snapshots of some of the most notorious:

ARTURO JUAREZ SUAREZ

Suarez, 43, - inmate T47397 - was tried in Napa County and convicted of four killings at a Placer County ranch, where he raped a woman, killed her two children, her husband and her brother-in-law.

Suarez, 43, invited the family to a ranch where he worked and where he had dug a grave in a blackberry thicket near the property in anticipation of the visit. When the family arrived, he lured Jose Luis Martinez, 37, and his brother Juan, 28, to the grave site and shot each in the head numerous times with a rifle.

Suarez then went back to the ranch house and assaulted Jose Martinez' wife. He bound her with rope, chains and duct tape, then left her behind while he led her 3-year-old daughter, Areli, and 5-year-old son, Jack, away.

Suarez took the children toward the grave, but Areli got tired so he picked her up and carried her part of the way. As he was walking, he saw a piece of wood and set her down. He picked up the wood and hit Jack in the head, then did the same to Areli.

He then buried them alive with the bodies of their father and uncle. Both children died of asphyxiation under the soil. Areli was found with her right hand desperately clutching a root underground.

Suarez later said he planned to kill the woman, but she managed to untie herself and run screaming to a neighbor's home. Suarez fled but was later arrested in Southern California.

He was sentenced to death Nov. 1, 2001.

ALEX DALE THOMAS

Thomas, 48, - inmate T00685 - was tried in Sonoma County after his trial was moved from Sacramento because of extensive publicity.

Thomas was a parolee who became a janitor at Rio Linda High School, where he raped and killed 18-year-old Michelle Montoya, a senior at the school.

He was making his rounds at the school when he heard Montoya on the phone calling for a ride home from school. Thomas, who had been on the job for three days and had eight previous felony convictions that included a previous killing, cornered Montoya in the woodshop and raped her. He then stabbed her in the back, slashed her throat and crushed her skull with a crowbar.

After the jury returned a verdict that he should be executed, Thomas was returned to Sacramento for sentencing and was slashed in the face by another inmate while being escorted past a holding cell.

He was sentenced to death Nov. 29, 2000.

HERBERT JAMES CODDINGTON

Coddington, 52, - inmate E08100 - was a professional gambler who pretended to be an Atlanta-based anti-drug videomaker to lure two women and two aspiring models to his South Lake Tahoe mobile home. Maybelle "Mabs" Martin, 69, who represented young girls in Reno as models, came to the home with 73-year-old Dorothy Walsh and two girls, ages 12 and 14, whom he had auditioned earlier for the video.

Coddington strangled the two women, then blindfolded and sexually assaulted the two girls in a soundproofed bedroom he had built. They were rescued two days later when the FBI raided the home.

After his arrest, Coddington filed a claim with El Dorado County seeking $5,490 for items he said were stolen from his mobile home after his arrest. The county denied the claim.

He was sentenced to death Jan. 20, 1989.

To see the mug shots and read about the crimes of all 41 of the Sacramento region's condemned inmates go to sacbee.com/photos

Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.