Polly Klaas' house

This is Polly Klaas' former house.

It is located at 427 4th Street in Petaluma, California.

The address became the scene of a kidnapping on October 1, 1993.

That night, 12-year-old Polly Klaas was having a slumber party with two classmates.

Kidnapping and murder

At approximately 10:30 p.m., a 39-year-old drifter named Richard Allen Davis entered the house through an unlocked door or window.

At the time, the three girls were playing board games. Meanwhile, her mother, Evelyn Nichol, was asleep in her bedroom.

Davis entered Klaas' room carrying a knife he took from the kitchen. To force the girls into compliance, he threatened to slit their throats if they screamed.

He told the girls he was only there for money. He then tied up and gagged Klaas' classmates, put pillowcases over their heads, and ordered them to count to 1,000.

Davis assured the girls that he would bring Klaas back after collecting the money.

After leaving, he drove around aimlessly for a few hours because he was intoxicated and unsure of what his next steps should be. Following several stops, he eventually headed north of Petaluma.

Later that night, he murdered Klaas and dumped her remains in a rural area off Highway 101, just south of Cloverdale.

Investigators zeroed in on Davis after learning that his car had gotten stuck in a ditch on the night of the kidnapping. The ditch was located on the same private property where the victim's tights were later found.

Although he initially denied any involvement, a palm print in the bedroom linked him to the crime.

On December 4, 1993, he confessed to Klaas' murder and agreed to lead the authorities to her body. He told detectives he was heavily intoxicated on the night of the kidnapping.

Davis explained that he decided to kill Klaas because he didn't want to go back to prison. In 1985, a judge had sentenced him to 16 years in prison after he was convicted of holding a woman at gunpoint and forcing her to withdraw cash from an ATM.

Due to good behavior, Davis was released early in June 1993, just four months before the kidnapping.

Conviction

In August 1996, a jury in Santa Clara County convicted Davis of first-degree murder with special circumstances and sentenced him to death.

In May 2024, a judge denied his appeal to overturn his death sentence.

Davis, who is now in his 70s, is currently on death row in the Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison.