Murderer Siripongs Asks Davis for Clemency

Convicted double murderer Jaturan “Jay” Siripongs on Tuesday asked Gov. Gray Davis for clemency.

Siripongs’ lawyers filed a 46-page document with the governor’s office, and prosecutors will submit their response in coming days, Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante said.

The state Board of Prison Terms will review both sets of documents at its next meeting--Feb. 2, one week before the scheduled execution of Siripongs.

The board will submit a confidential report to the governor’s legal affairs team, and Davis will decide after that whether Siripongs should be put to death, Bustamante said.

Bustamante said he had not seen Siripongs’ papers and could not comment on the nature of the clemency request. Siripongs’ lawyer, Linda Schilling, did not return a call seeking comment late Tuesday.

Siripongs, a native of Thailand, was convicted of strangling the manager of a Garden Grove food store where he once worked and fatally stabbing a clerk during a December 1981 robbery.

Siripongs contends that he was only a bystander during the killings. He has refused to identify the alleged killer.

Siripongs, 43, was scheduled for execution Nov. 16 until U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney issued a temporary restraining order that day.

Judge Chesney later denied a preliminary injunction that would have continued the stay.

Last month, Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald signed a new execution order for Siripongs.

Last week the California Department of Corrections set a Feb. 9 execution date.

In November, Davis’ predecessor, Pete Wilson, denied a request for clemency that was supported by the husband of one of the murder victims, two jurors, the former warden of San Quentin Prison and the government of Thailand.