Looking Back: The Tison Case

Updated 2024

The surviving brothers, Ricky and Raymond Tison, remain inmates today of the Arizona State Prison in Tucson, nearly 50 years after the three sons of Gary Tison freed their convict father in that daring daylight jailbreak. The brothers, now in their 60s and serving multiple life terms, were originally sentenced to death for the six murders that were committed by their dad and fellow-escapee Randy Greenawalt.

Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld capital punish for the boys — teenagers at the time — in a 5-4 decision. Among that narrow majority was Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the high court’s first woman justice. She had been an Arizona Superior Court judge in Phoenix when the prison break took place. The majority agreed that the brothers, by freeing two inmates already convicted of murder, had committed a risky and reckless act and should have anticipated the danger they unleashed.

Dissenters noted, however, that none of the brothers joined in the killings. Thet did not plot the escape. And they participated only under emotional pressure, commiting to join at the last minute — and with assurances from their father that no one would be harmed.  

In his 1987 dissent Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan characterized the brothers as victims themselves, writing that they were, “punished for the sins of their father.”  Following are more highlighted entries from Brennan’s dissent:

1 -- “These most unfortunate youngsters were born into an extremely pathological family and were exposed to one of the premier sociopaths of recent Arizona history... I do believe that their father, Gary Tison, exerted a strong, consistent, destructive but subtle pressure upon these youngsters and I believe that (the sons) got committed to an act which was essentially ‘over their heads.' Once committed, it was too late."

2 -- “The brothers neither killed nor attempted nor intended to kill anyone... (They were) sentenced to death for the intentional acts of others... and over which they had no control.”

3 -- “(Their) presence at the scene of the murders, and their participation in flagging down... robbing and guarding the family, indicate nothing whatsoever about their subjective appreciation that their father and his friend would suddenly decide to kill the family.”

4 -- “Neither son had a prior felony record. Both lived at home with their mother, and visited their father whom they believed was 'a model prisoner,' each week.”

Pictured below: Deceased brother, Donny, left, in family Easter photo, with Raymond and Ricky (aged 4, 2, and 3 years), and in 2024 as inmates Raymond and Ricky (left to right).

Supreme Court Justice

William J. Brennan.