Bio

James Ronald Meanes was born on June 8, 1956. Meanes was living in Texas and was married with children. He claimed financial problems were part of the reason he became involved in the armored-car robbery. According to those accounts, he said he had faced eviction notices and utility problems before the crime.

By 1981, Meanes had become connected to Sandoval “Carlos” Santana. Together, they planned and carried out the armored-van robbery that led to the death of Oliver Flores. The crime was aimed at stealing a large amount of money from a Purolator armored vehicle during a scheduled pickup.

Murder Story

On April 21, 1981, armored guard Olivero “Oliver” Flores was working for Purolator Armored Inc. in Houston, Texas. He was making a scheduled stop at a store on the Gulf Freeway with another guard, Dorothy Wright.

James Ronald Meanes and Carlos Santana were waiting nearby. When Flores got out of the armored van, the robbery began. Flores was shot during the attack and died from his injuries. After Flores was shot, Meanes and Santana continued firing at the armored van. Dorothy Wright was still inside. She was threatened and forced out of the vehicle. The two men then drove away in the armored van with money bags worth about $1.1 million.

Meanes and Santana fled into a nearby wooded area, but police caught them about an hour later. During questioning, Meanes told officers where the weapons used in the robbery had been hidden. Meanes was convicted of capital murder on July 22, 1981. He was sentenced to death the next day, July 23, 1981. His appeals continued for years, but his conviction and sentence were upheld.

James Ronald Meanes was executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 15, 1998. He was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m.