Pinal County man is serving life sentence for killing four family members

FLORENCE, AZ (AZFamily) – An Arizona man who brutally killed four family members is spending his life behind bars.

Richard David Wilson IV was sentenced in February to four life sentences for the 2022 murders.

Prosecutors originally argued for the death penalty, but agreed to a plea deal in January.

One possible reason for this decision was Wilson’s history of mental illness.

Investigators said at the time of the murders he was mixing medications that “can cause mental status changes.”

On September 4, 2022, Richard Wilson IV’s sister, 16-year-old Rudy Wilson, called 911 and said her brother had just beaten their mother near Casa Grande. She started screaming over and over again before the phone cut out.

Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Wilson’s father, 47-year-old Richard Wilson, his mother, 50-year-old Ellen Otterman, his sister and his niece Renaya White dead in the home. All four were stabbed in the neck with a knife.

Richard Wilson IV was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said at the time it was an “act of depraved violence.”

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