Crime & Safety
Convicted Killer Gary Lee Sampson Dies Inside Prison Hospital
The Weymouth man who went on a killing spree, taking the lives of two Massachusetts men and a man from New Hampshire in 2001, has died.
WEYMOUTH, MA — The man who was convicted of killing three men in 2001 has died inside a medical center that houses federal inmates, officials said.
Gary Lee Sampson, 62, of Weymouth, passed away Tuesday at a Springfield, Missouri facility, said a spokesperson from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Sampson was convicted in the 2001 murders of Jonathan Rizzo, 19, of Kingston, and Phillip McCloskey, 69, of Taunton, and Robert "Eli" Whitney, 58, of Concord, New Hampshire during a killing spree.
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Sampson was originally sentenced to death in 2003, but a judge later granted Sampson a new sentencing trial after one of the jurors lied about her background.
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Although Massachusetts law does not allow for the death penalty, Sampson was tried under federal law. If executed, he would be the first person killed for a crime in Massachusetts since 1947.
Sampson was later convicted again and sentenced to death in 2017.
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