Karl LaGrand was born in 1953, and his younger brother, Walter LaGrand, was born in 1962. Both were German citizens but had moved to the United States as children with their family. They grew up in Arizona, where they spent most of their lives. Even though they were German nationals, they were raised in the U.S. and considered it home.

The LaGrand brothers didn’t have an easy life. They struggled with poverty and crime from a young age. Over time, they got involved in petty crimes and trouble with the law. By the time they were adults, they had turned to armed robbery as a way to make money.

On January 7, 1982, Karl and Walter LaGrand entered the Valley National Bank in Marana, Arizona, with the intention of robbing it. During the robbery, they took hostages, including a bank manager named Kenneth Hartsock and a teller. They threatened the employees and demanded money, but things quickly escalated.

At some point, the brothers decided to attack Hartsock, stabbing him 24 times with a letter opener. The brutal assault left him bleeding heavily, and he later died from his injuries. The bank teller survived the attack and was able to call for help once the brothers fled.

The police caught the LaGrand brothers shortly after the murder, and they were charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and attempted murder. During the trial, they were found guilty and sentenced to death.

This case took an international turn because the state of Arizona never informed the LaGrand brothers of their right to contact the German consulate, as required under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). Germany later argued that this failure violated international law, and the case went all the way to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Despite Germany’s legal efforts, Karl LaGrand was executed by lethal injection on February 24, 1999. Shortly after, the ICJ ordered the U.S. to delay Walter LaGrand’s execution, but the U.S. ignored the ruling. Walter LaGrand was executed in the gas chamber on March 3, 1999.

The LaGrand case became a major international legal dispute, with the ICJ ruling in 2001 that the U.S. had violated international law. Even though the ruling did not save the LaGrand brothers, it set a precedent for how countries should treat foreign nationals facing the death penalty.