Bio

Steven Craig James was born on May 24, 1958. By 1981, James was living in Arizona and was associated with Lawrence Keith Libberton and Martin David Norton. Norton was 14 years old at the time of the crime and later became a key witness for the prosecution. The case was later described as involving hostility toward the victim because he was a gay man.

Murder Story

On November 16, 1981, Juan Maya encountered 14-year-old Martin David Norton. According to the evidence summarized in court records, Maya made sexual advances toward Norton, which Norton rejected. Norton then suggested that Maya might receive a different response at a trailer belonging to Steven Craig James.

When Maya followed Norton into the trailer, James, Lawrence Keith Libberton, and Norton assaulted him. The three took turns beating Maya. They then forced him into the back seat of his own car and began driving toward Salome, Arizona, where James’s parents owned property that included an abandoned mine shaft.

During the drive, a police officer stopped the vehicle. Maya was still alive inside the car, but Libberton threatened to kill him if he tried to alert the officer. The stop ended without police discovering the kidnapping.

The group arrived at the Salome property around dawn. James ordered Maya to step toward the mine shaft. As Maya pleaded for his life, James fired at him from a distance of less than five feet. Maya charged at James and tried to take the gun. Libberton and Norton then struck Maya with large rocks and a board.

After Maya fell to the ground, the men attempted to shoot him again at close range. Court summaries state that the pistol failed to fire because the barrel was fouled with debris. They then dragged Maya to the mine shaft and threw him inside. Rocks and railroad ties were dropped on top of him.

James was arrested on November 19, 1981, three days after the murder. During interrogation, he made statements that helped police locate Maya’s body. The admissibility of those statements later became an issue in appeals because James had invoked his right to counsel during questioning. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed the admission of the evidence, and the United States Supreme Court declined review, although Justice William Brennan, joined by Justice Thurgood Marshall, dissented.

James was tried in Maricopa County, Arizona. His trial began on September 16, 1982. On October 4, 1982, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was found not guilty of aggravated robbery and theft. On November 23, 1982, he was sentenced to death for murder and to 21 years in prison for kidnapping.

The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed James’s conviction and death sentence in 1984. The court struck the pecuniary gain aggravating circumstance but upheld the finding that the murder was especially heinous, cruel, or depraved.

James continued to challenge his conviction and sentence through state and federal appeals. In 2012 and again in 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted habeas relief from his death sentence, holding that his trial counsel had been ineffective during the penalty phase. The court found that the defense had failed to adequately investigate and present mitigation evidence. The ruling required Arizona either to resentence James within a reasonable time or have the death sentence converted to life imprisonment.