Bio

Arthur Ray Jenkins III was born in 1969. He was also known in court records as Arthur Ray Frame. By his teenage years, Jenkins had spent time in juvenile institutions. His attorneys later stated that he had been treated with antipsychotic medication from a young age and had been returned to his family as a teenager under difficult circumstances. These claims were raised in appeals and clemency proceedings but did not overturn his conviction or death sentence.

Before the murders, Jenkins had a criminal record that included burglary and grand larceny. He had been released from custody shortly before the 1990 killings. His defense later argued that he had been released without supervision or proper mental health medication, but prosecutors and courts rejected claims that these issues legally invalidated his conviction or sentence.

Murder Story

On October 12, 1990, Arthur Ray Jenkins III and his younger brother, Kevin Frame, went to the rural Warren County, Virginia home shared by Floyd Jenkins and Lee H. Brinklow. Floyd Jenkins was Arthur Jenkins’s uncle. Floyd was 72 years old, and Brinklow was 69.

Court records state that Jenkins and Frame had been drinking before arriving at the home. An argument occurred inside the residence. During the confrontation, Jenkins obtained a .22-caliber rifle from a bedroom and shot both Floyd Jenkins and Lee Brinklow. Floyd Jenkins was also repeatedly stabbed with a butcher knife.

After the killings, Jenkins broke into his aunt’s bedroom and stole money and other property from the home. The victims’ wallets, cash, and other valuables were taken. Jenkins was arrested the next day, October 13, 1990, in Washington County, Virginia. He was later charged with capital murder in connection with the killings and robbery.

A Virginia jury convicted Jenkins of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The judge imposed the death sentence after reviewing the jury’s recommendation and the evidence. The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentences in 1992.

Jenkins later pursued state and federal appeals. His attorneys did not dispute that he killed the victims, but argued that his history of abuse, mental illness, institutionalization, and lack of medication should have affected the outcome of the case. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected his habeas claims, and the United States Supreme Court declined to stop the execution.

Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore denied clemency. In his statement, the governor said the murders involved both a firearm and a butcher knife and noted Jenkins’s record of violent behavior and prison misconduct. Arthur Ray Jenkins III was executed by lethal injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia on April 20, 1999. He was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m.