Arizona death row inmate Richard Bible to be executed Thursday for rape, murder of 9-year-old girl

FLORENCE, AZ - An Arizona death row inmate is scheduled to be executed Thursday after being convicted for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in 1988.

Richard Bible is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Arizona State Prison at 11 am.

It's been more than 20 years since 9-year-old Jennifer Wilson of Yuma was raped and murdered while riding her bike during a family vacation in Flagstaff.

Her decomposing body was found three weeks later in the woods.

Bible was tried and convicted in 1991, and has been on death row ever since.

The shocking crime horrified Arizonans.

In Yuma, where Wilson's parents were prominent members of the community, the scars still remain.

Terry Ross, editor of the Yuma Sun, was working for the paper in 1988 and remembers the community's reaction.

"It was very sobering, very saddening to the community," he said. "I think it made many people, especially those with children of that age, very conscious of the kind of evil that exists in the world."

Ross says Bible's execution may bring a sense of justice to the community and to the family of Jennifer, but it won't bring her back.

The only speckle of good from this is Jennifer's legacy, which is carried on by her parents.

"We have a school named after Jennifer," explained Ross.

The Wilsons have had a huge impact on the state.

Nancy Wilson, in particular, and also Rich were completely involved in changing the victim's rights in Arizona through the state's victim's rights law.

The Wilsons could not be reached for comment.

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