Richard Djerf: What to know about the Arizona man executed for murdering 4 members of a family

(NOTE: This story contains subject matter and details that some may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.)

PHOENIX - Richard Djerf, a man who was convicted of killing four people over three decades ago, has been put to death for the murders of October 17, 2025.

Djerf's execution, which happened during the 10:00 a.m. hour, was the second execution Arizona carried out in 2025. The last execution happened in March, when Aaron Gunches was put to death.

Here's what to know about Djerf, as well as the crimes that led to his death sentence.

Who is Richard Djerf?

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Djerf, who was 23 at the time of the murders, killed four members of the Luna family. They were identified as 42-year-old Patricia Luna, 47-year-old Albert Luna, and 18-year-old Rochelle Luna. The five-year-old was identified as Damien.

In filings related to the state's request to execute Djerf, it was stated that Djerf pleaded guilty to four counts of first degree murder in 1995, but legal battles related to Djerf's case continued for years, until 2020.

What happened?

Djerf had become obsessed and enraged over electronics and an AK-47 that Albert Luna, Jr. had stolen from Djerf's apartment nine months earlier, and on the morning of September 14, 1993, Djerf went to the Luna home to seek revenge.

Timeline:

At approximately at 10:00 a.m. that day, Djerf walked up to the Luna home using a ruse - artificial flowers in a vase - to get someone to open the door. Patricia thought she was getting flowers, but she was greeted with a 9mm Baretta handgun instead as Djerf forced his way inside.

Djerf wanted to know whether Albert Jr. was home. He wasn't. Then, Djerf forced Patricia to remove electronics from the home, and put them in her car in the garage. He eventually tied up Patricia and Damien to chairs in the kitchen using rope and electrical tape, and taped their mouths shut. 

Repeatedly, Djerf asked Patricia whether she or her little boy should die first.

At 2:00 p.m., Rochelle came home from school, and Djerf forced her into her bedroom. He gagged Rochelle with tissue paper and tape, tied her wrists to the bed, cut her clothes off with a knife, and sexually assaulted her. Djerf then stabbed Rochelle three times in the chest, and slit her throat. He then returned to the kitchen, and told Patricia he had sexually assaulted and killed her daughter.

At 4:00 p.m., Albert Sr. came home from work, and Djerf forced him to crawl to the master bedroom at gunpoint, handcuffed him, and placed him face down on the bed where he repeatedly struck him with an aluminum baseball bat to the back of the head, sending blood spatter all around the room.

Thinking he was dead, Djerf removed the handcuffs from Albert Sr., and taped his hands and wrists. He returned to the kitchen and told Patricia he had killed her husband.

Djerf then tried to snap Damien's neck, but failed. He then cut an electrical cord from a lamp and tried to electrocute the boy. That too failed.

Albert Sr. eventually regained consciousness. He stumbled to the kitchen, armed with a pocket knife, and charged at Djerf, stabbing and wounding him. Djerf then stabbed Albert Sr., pulled the handgun from his waistband, and shot him six times.

Albert collapsed in a pool of blood.

According to statements made to friends, Djerf asked Patricia this:

"Do you want to watch your kid die, or do you want your kid to watch you die?"

Djerf then shot them both in the head at close range.

Djerf later soaked the victims and the home with gasoline. As children were playing outside, Djerf waited until he could make his getaway. Before he left, he turned on two burners on the kitchen stove and placed an empty pizza box and a rag on it, hoping the home would go up in flames.

The fire that was intended to destroy the crime scene never ignited, and Djerf drove away in the Luna family's car. Djerf returned to his apartment, and told his girlfriend he had been stabbed by two men who tried to rob him at the mall. Djerf eventually went to the hospital for treatment of the stab wound inflicted by Albert Sr.

Shortly before midnight, Albert Jr. returned home, and upon entering, he smelled a strong odor of gasoline in the house before coming upon the horrible scene in the kitchen. He scrambled out of the home, and called police.

Police officer recounts horror

Ernie Britts, who was 36 years old at the time of the murders, was the first officer to enter the Luna home.

At the time of the murders, Britts had been with Phoenix Police for 14 years. He had seen a lot of bad things, but nothing like what he saw at the Luna home.

What Britts Said:

"The father laying on the kitchen floor, and his head was all smashed and blood everywhere," Britts recounted. "To the right was the mother sitting in a chair, facing the five-year-old boy who was sitting in a chair. Both taped to the chair, and she had tape on her face. It was horrific."

No one, not even Djerf, could explain why he took it so far. Even hardened detectives and officers say it's the worst crime scene they ever encounter, and many declined to be interviewed about the horrors they saw.

32 years have passed since the murders, and Britts said so many lives changed that day. Including his partners' who had gone into the bedroom where Rochelle was sexually assaulted and killed.  

"We came outside after the house was cleared, and John, my partner, was just dry heaving," Britts recounted. "I go ‘what’s the matter?' He goes ‘nothing.’ He kept saying he didn't see anybody in the room or anything, but obviously he had."

Britts' partner was never the same: he quit the department two years after the murders.

"Will it close a chapter for you?" we asked Britts.

"No. You can't forget what you see," Britts replied. "It's hard to forget. It leaves a scar no matter what."