A judge sent Robert Bloom Jr

A judge sent Robert Bloom Jr. back to death row, where the 37-year-old had spent half his life before his retrial in 2000 for the killings of his father, stepmother and stepsister in Sun Valley. His lawyers had tried to portray Bloom, who was then 18, as enraged when he shot his abusive father, Robert Bloom Sr., and insane when he later killed his stepmother, Josephine Lou Bloom, and 8-year-old stepsister, Sandra Hughes. Neither the jurors nor Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp was persuaded by Bloom's insanity defense. This was the 2nd time Bloom had been sentenced to death. His 1983 murder convictions were overturned by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997, after it found his trial lawyer had failed to stress his client's mental condition as part of his defense.