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A stay order has been issued for a Pennsylvania man convicted of random murders of five people including an Indian-American, during a two-hour hate crime rampage in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County. Richard Scott Baumhammers, convicted of killing 31-year-old Anil Thakur, was scheduled to be executed Dec. 3 at the State Correctional Institute Rockview in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
In addition to Thakur, the 49-year-old Baumhammers was convicted of murdering Anita “Nicki” Gordon, Theo Pham, Ji-ye Sun and Garry Lee on April 28, 2000, in Pittsburg, and has spent the last 13 years on Pennsylvania’s death row.
Baumhammers was previously scheduled to be executed in 2010, but received a stay of execution by Allegheny Court of Common Pleas, a statement on the Forgiveness Foundation website said. The day after receiving his new execution date, the U.S. District Court for the Western District stayed Richard’s execution to allow time for him to pursue federal appeals.
Baumhammers was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents who were immigrants from Latvia and became successful dentists and professors. Baumhammers succeeded academically throughout high school and college, after which he graduated from law school. He worked for several years in Georgia in international law.
In the late 1990s, Baumhammers moved to Latvia and became a citizen. He also traveled through Europe and was arrested in Paris, France for striking a bartender because he “believed she was Jewish.” By 1999, Baumhammers had returned to Pittsburgh. During his life, he had entered psychiatric hospitals at least twice voluntarily, and several times involuntarily. He first sought treatment for mental illness in 1993, the Forgiveness Foundation website said.
On April 27, 1999, Baumhammers obtained a .357 Magnum revolver. The following day, Baumhammers walked to the home of Nicki Gordon, his neighbor and longtime family friend. Baumhammers shot her and set her house on fire. Gordon, who was Jewish, did not survive.
Baumhammers then drove his vehicle to Nicki’s synagogue, Beth El Congregation, and fired shots through the windows into the building. He also exited his vehicle and used spray paint to paint two red swastikas on the building.
Baumhammers drove a short distance from the synagogue to the India Grocer. He shot and killed Thakur, who was picking up groceries during his lunch hour. Baumhammers also shot store manager Sandeep Patel. Thakur did not survive injuries and Patel was paralyzed and wheel chair bound for the rest of his life.
Baumhammers was observed calmly leaving the parking lot after the murders and was later pulled over by police. He was arrested and ultimately charged with 19 crimes, including five criminal homicides. Baumhammers was found guilty and given death for each murder, plus 112 years for other crime, WFMZ TV reported.
