David Anthony, sentenced to death for killing family, dies on death row

FLORENCE, AZ - An Arizona inmate who was on death row after being re-convicted in the 2001 murders of his wife and stepchildren has died in prison.

The Arizona Department of Corrections announced Saturday that 64-year-old David Anthony died Friday night of apparent natural causes at the Eyman Arizona State Prison Complex.

Corrections spokesman Bill Lamoreaux did not provide any further details about Anthony's death.

In September, Anthony was sentenced to death for three counts of first-degree murder after being convicted for the second time of killing Donna Anthony and her two children in the Phoenix area.

Donna Anthony and her two children, Danielle Romero, 14, and Richard Romero, 12, disappeared from their Peoria home on July 7, 2001, the day they were supposed to board a plane for Columbus, Ohio, to visit relatives.

The bodies of all three were found in 2005 in barrels at a Buckeye construction site.

Anthony was first found guilty in 2002 even though the bodies had not been found. The Arizona Supreme Court overturned that verdict in 2008, saying the trial judge erred in letting the prosecution argue that Anthony had a motive to kill his family.