"To an innocent child whose life was brutally taken and a family that has had to endure decades of suffering, Arizonans will never forget," Brnovich said. "Today, we remember Vicki Lynne and stand together with her loved ones and the Tucson community as their unwavering quest for justice is finally realized."
Brnovich said the execution occurred at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. Atwood was sentenced to death more than three decades ago and had exhausted all appeals.
The attorney general said on September 17, 1984, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson, 8, was riding her bicycle home after mailing a birthday card to her aunt when Atwood kidnapped and murdered her. They said Atwood discarded Hoskinson’s body in the Tucson desert and absconded to Texas.
A hiker discovered Vicki’s remains in April 1985. Atwood had previously been convicted in California of lewd and lascivious acts and kidnapping, committed against two young children. He was paroled from the kidnapping sentence and moved to Tucson in September 1984, violating his California parole. Investigators said he kidnapped Vicki Lynne days later.
There are 111 incarcerated individuals on Arizona's death row and 22 have exhausted all their appeals, Brnovich said.