Mark Hopkinson

Mark Allen Hopkinson (October 8, 1949 – January 22, 1992) was a convicted proxy serial killer who was responsible for arranging the 1977 murders of Vincent Vehar, Beverly Vehar, and John Vehar, and the 1979 murder of Jeffrey Green, a key witness against him, in Wyoming. Hopkinson is the only person to have been executed by the state of Wyoming since the 1960s. Gerry Spence served as the special prosecutor who won the case against Hopkinson.

Hopkinson was sentenced to death specifically for Green's murder, the deciding factor being that he had arranged it from a federal prison in California, where he was serving time for trying to arrange the murder of another man in the state of Arizona. While on death row, Hopkinson allegedly tried to arrange additional murders.

In April 1976, Mark Hopkinson visited the Roitzes and asked them if they, together without any attorneys, could work out a settlement. When the Roitzes refused, Mark Hopkinson warned them that he could construct the trailer court in such a manner as to inconvenience them greatly. On May 6, 1976, Mark revisited the Roitzes and attacked 55-year-old Frank Roitz. After Mark was pulled away from Frank, Mark's father, Joe, armed with a hammer, arrived at the scene. The two men together then beat Frank Roitz. When the fracas was finally over, the Roitzes consulted with Vehar and decided to talk to the county attorney about pressing charges; however, the county attorney was Jim Phillips, who had been hired by Mark to appeal the original judgment. Phillips, acting in his official capacity, refused to file charges in the matter. When Mark was informed of Green's plight, he drove to Utah with Hickey and bailed Green out. Hopkinson thereafter refused to further discuss his plans for Vincent Vehar with Jeff Green. Later that day, Mark Hopkinson made his last call to Jennifer. She advised him that Jeff was dead. He was released from prison in 1999 and returned to his home in Bridger Valley.

In 1987, Russell and Todd Hall were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Jeff Green. A third man, Jeff Dunn, was also charged, but the case against him was later dropped due to a lack of evidence. In June 1990, Russell, who is believed to have acted as an intermediary between Hopkinson and those who had actually killed Green, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison plus eight to 10 years. His conviction was overturned in 1993. Russell died of a heart attack on October 9, 1997, at the age of 45. At the time of his death, he was living in Salt Lake City, out on bond while awaiting a retrial for his role in the murder of Green.

Green trial Mark Hopkinson was then indicted for, among other crimes, the murders of the Vehars and Jeff Green, and brought to trial on September 3, 1979. He chose to produce no evidence on his own behalf and rested at the close of the state's evidence after moving for a judgment of acquittal, which was denied. After the jury returned their finding of guilt on all six charges, they were asked to deliberate as to whether the death penalty should be imposed for the four murder convictions. The jury returned a recommendation of life imprisonment for the three Vehar counts, but death for the murder of Green. The court sentenced Hopkinson to 15 to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy convictions, three consecutive life terms for the Vehar family murders, and to death for the murder of Jeff Green. The jury voted for death in the murder of Green after the prosecutor pointed out that even being in prison had not stopped Hopkinson from ordering additional murders and argued that his execution would be the only way to ensure that he would never kill again."Every society in the world has had the right to kill our enemies in self defense."

Execution Hopkinson maintained his innocence up until his execution. Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan refused to commute or pardon him, despite petitions to do so by death penalty opponents, including Amnesty International. Years later, Sullivan said the decision over Hopkinson's fate was one of the hardest decisions of his career. Ultimately, that Hopkinson was already in federal prison for trying to arrange a murder when he ordered the murder of a key witness against him was the deciding factor."If you can't keep people from committing, or arranging, a murder while they're in prison then the death penalty – in the nature of the case – I believed it was appropriate. It wasn't a simple choice." While on death row, Hopkinson had allegedly kept trying to order additional murders. In 1981, he was indicted for soliciting to commit murder and arson from his cell. According to the indictments, Hopkinson had solicited Don Hagerman, who was about to be released from prison, to murder Frank Roitz and anyone with him, and then burn the Roitz home. Hopkinson also told the inmate to throw Molotov cocktails through the windows of a shopping mall in Urie, Wyoming owned by Charla Youngberg. The plot was foiled after Hagerman backed out of the plot and notified the police. However, the charges were dismissed after Hagerman recanted his testimony, claiming that he testified against Hopkinson in order to get revenge and since he was high on drugs. However, Hagerman never said why he would've held a grudge against Hopkinson, whose claims of prosecutorial misconduct in the case were later dismissed. Hopkinson also released a written statement:"My last words: I would like this to serve as a dying declaration. Nobody I called from Lompoc prison other than Jim Taylor had any involvement in Jeff Green's murder. Gerry Spence is a lying manipulating piece of shit. The governor could have proved this case against me was a lie. The Attorney General's office will continue to try and justify their case. Thank you, Mark. 1-22-92.

P.S., I feel sorry for the Vehar Family, but you got the wrong man. Forgive them for they know not what they do."

Hopkinson was pronounced dead at 12:57 a.m. on January 22, 1992. His execution was the first in the state of Wyoming since the 1965 execution of Andrew Pixley.