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Recent Articles
Investigator Calls Gun Evidence in 46-Year-Old Case 'Dark and Troubling'
by David Greenwald for The Davis Vanguard (Jan. 23, 2024)
The Moment of Truth: Did he do it?
by Pablo Lopez for Fresno Spotlight (Jan. 20, 2024)
by Pablo Lopez for ScheerPost (Jan. 11, 2024)
By David Greenwald for The Davis Vanguard (Oct. 9, 2023)
Imprisoned Monache Man Inches Closer to Freedom
By Richard Arlin Walker for ICT News (Oct. 11, 2023)
Judge Grants Motion to Test Gun in 45-year-Old Wrongful Conviction Case
By David Greenwald for The Davis Vanguard (Feb. 3, 2023)
Stankewitz Team Maintains Prosecutorial Misconduct, No Response So Far from Fresno DA
By Robert Hansen for The Davis Vanguard (April 3, 2022)
Stankewitz Habeas Granted Informal Response from AG's Office
By David Greenwald for The Davis Vanguard (June 14, 2021)
Vanguard Follow-Up in Stankewitz Case: COVID and Hope for the Future
By Roxanna Jarvis for The Davis Vanguard (Mar. 15, 2021)
By Roxanna Jarvis for The Davis Vanguard (Feb. 21, 2021)
By Roxanna Jarvis and Cailin Garcia for The Davis Vanguard (Nov. 17, 2020)
By Steve Russell for Medium (May 18, 2019)
Killer had to be re-sentenced for 1978 murder. Here's why the judge smirked as he ruled.
By Robert Rodriguez for The Fresno Bee (May 3, 2019)
Fresno DA Drops Death Penalty For California's Longest Serving Death-Row Prisoner
By the Death Penalty Information Center (Apr. 22, 2019)
No death penalty for convicted killer Douglas Stankewitz in 1978 murder, says Fresno DA
By Brianna Calix for The Fresno Bee (Apr. 19, 2019)
News of a death penalty moratorium elicits a muted reaction at San Quentin
By Maria L. La Ganga for The Los Angeles Times (Mar. 17, 2019)
Execution ban spares some inmates who've been on California's death row up to 40 years
By Don Sweeney for The Merced Sun-Star (Mar. 13, 2019)
California's Longest Serving Death Row Inmate Returns to Fresno Courtroom
By Ashleigh Panoo for The Fresno Bee (June 23, 2017)
Man on Death Row 38 Years Fears Trouble as California Death Penalty Vote Looms
By Maria L. La Ganga for The Guardian (Nov. 6, 2016)
Legendary Lawyer Serra Will Defend Death Row Inmate Stankewitz
By Pablo Lopez for The Fresno Bee (Oct. 17, 2016)
Longest Serving Death Row Inmate Stankewitz's Third Trial Pushed Back, Perhaps for Two Years
By Staff and Wire Service Reports for The Metropolitan News-Enterprise (Sept. 24, 2013)
Vanguard Follow-Up in Stankewitz Case: COVID and Hope for the Future
By Roxanna Jarvis for The Davis Vanguard (Mar. 15, 2021)
By Roxanna Jarvis for The Davis Vanguard (Feb. 21, 2021)
By Roxanna Jarvis and Cailin Garcia for The Davis Vanguard (Nov. 17, 2020)
By Steve Russell for Medium (May 18, 2019)
Killer had to be re-sentenced for 1978 murder. Here's why the judge smirked as he ruled.
By Robert Rodriguez for The Fresno Bee (May 3, 2019)
Fresno DA Drops Death Penalty For California's Longest Serving Death-Row Prisoner
By the Death Penalty Information Center (Apr. 22, 2019)
No death penalty for convicted killer Douglas Stankewitz in 1978 murder, says Fresno DA
By Brianna Calix for The Fresno Bee (Apr. 19, 2019)
News of a death penalty moratorium elicits a muted reaction at San Quentin
By Maria L. La Ganga for The Los Angeles Times (Mar. 17, 2019)
Execution ban spares some inmates who've been on California's death row up to 40 years
By Don Sweeney for The Merced Sun-Star (Mar. 13, 2019)
California's Longest Serving Death Row Inmate Returns to Fresno Courtroom
By Ashleigh Panoo for The Fresno Bee (June 23, 2017)
Man on Death Row 38 Years Fears Trouble as California Death Penalty Vote Looms
By Maria L. La Ganga for The Guardian (Nov. 6, 2016)
Legendary Lawyer Serra Will Defend Death Row Inmate Stankewitz
By Pablo Lopez for The Fresno Bee (Oct. 17, 2016)
Longest Serving Death Row Inmate Stankewitz's Third Trial Pushed Back, Perhaps for Two Years
By Staff and Wire Service Reports for The Metropolitan News-Enterprise (Sept. 24, 2013)
1978 NewSPaper Clippings
The Sacramento Bee: February 9, 1978
The Sacramento Bee: February 9, 1978
The Sacramento Bee: February 9, 1978
This clipping from The Sacramento Bee describes the initial arrest. Here they have Stankewitz and juvenile Billy Brown's ages incorrect. Stankewitz was 19 and Brown was 14.
February 15, 1978
The Sacramento Bee: February 9, 1978
The Sacramento Bee: February 9, 1978
The article displays how Stankewitz was held with no bail while the other co-defendants had bail of $200,000.
Only Stankewitz was sought to be given the death penalty, a decision made before he even had his preliminary hearing.
The Fresno Bee: February 16, 1978
The Fresno Bee: February 16, 1978
The Fresno Bee: February 16, 1978
In this article, they claim that Stankewitz and others were part of another robbery and kidnapping earlier that night.
Yet, in a 2020 statement, the victim in the case claims the robbery happened years before Graybeal's murder.
March 2, 1978
The Fresno Bee: February 16, 1978
The Fresno Bee: February 16, 1978
The article states that during Stankewitz's preliminary hearing, 14-year-old Brown testified that he saw Stankewitz shoot the gun. Years later in a declaration, Brown made a statement that he was forced to lie on the stand by prosecutors James Ardaiz and Warren Robinson.
Brown claimed Ardaiz would practice his testimony with him on weekends and give him alcohol to drink. Brown also stated that Robinson threatened him with murder charges if he did not testify as instructed.