Aturun Siripongs was born on October 19, 1951, in Thailand. His early years were marked by poverty and neglect. When his parents separated, he was raised in a brothel where he endured physical abuse and lived in harsh conditions. His childhood home was described as a rat-infested compound without running water or electricity, a setting that underscored the instability and hardship of his youth.

As a young man, he became involved in crime. At the age of 20, while participating in a robbery at a department store in Thailand, Siripongs was shot in the head. He survived the injury and was later convicted for his role in the crime, spending time in a Thai prison. His release was granted for good behavior, and in the aftermath he attempted to turn his life around. He entered a Buddhist monastery for training as a monk, an effort to reform his character and pursue spiritual discipline.

Following this period of religious study, Siripongs worked as a cook aboard a cargo ship. His time at sea brought him into contact with U.S. drug authorities, whom he aided in a sting operation. The money he received from his assistance allowed him to secure passage to the United States.

On December 15, 1981, the Garden Grove Police Department discovered the bodies of two people inside the storeroom of a retail store in Garden Grove, California. The victims were Packovan Wattanaporn, the 36-year-old store manager, and Quach Nguyen, a 52-year-old employee. Wattanaporn had been strangled, while Nguyen had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck. The brutality of the attack shocked the community.

Just two days later, on December 17, Siripongs attempted to use credit cards belonging to Wattanaporn. This led to his arrest. When police questioned him, they noted that he had cuts on his fingers, and bloodstains found at the crime scene matched his blood type. Investigators learned that he had occasionally worked at the same store. A search of his home and car uncovered further incriminating evidence: jewelry belonging to Wattanaporn, dried blood in the vehicle, and a knife resembling the weapon used to kill Nguyen.

Siripongs was charged with burglary, robbery, and two counts of first-degree murder. His trial began in Orange County, California, and the evidence presented convinced the jury of his guilt. On April 22, 1983, the jury sentenced him to death.

Throughout his imprisonment, Siripongs admitted he had been part of the robbery but insisted he had not killed the victims. He claimed an unnamed accomplice carried out the murders, though he never revealed the person’s identity. His defense suggested the accomplice was the 17-year-old sister of his girlfriend, a trial witness who later returned to Thailand. However, in December 1995, after an eight-day hearing, a federal judge concluded there was no credible evidence of another perpetrator.

Siripongs’s execution was first scheduled for November 1998, but legal appeals temporarily delayed it. On December 14, 1998, a new execution date was set for February 9, 1999. Despite growing opposition, including pleas from Pope John Paul II, the government of Thailand, two trial jurors, and even the former warden of San Quentin Prison, clemency was denied by California Governor Gray Davis. Davis acknowledged Siripongs’s model behavior in prison but declared, “Model behavior cannot bring back the lives of the two innocent murder victims.”

In the days leading up to his death, protests erupted outside San Quentin. On the night of his execution, demonstrators both for and against the death penalty clashed, with police intervening to separate them.

On February 9, 1999, at 12:19 a.m., Aturun Siripongs was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison. He consumed a final meal of canned iced tea and peaches, declined to make a last statement, and died quietly. He left instructions for his ashes to be scattered at sea, consistent with his Buddhist belief in reincarnation.