Inmate Who Stabbed Wife, Two Daughters To Death Found Murdered In Prison Shower

A Washington man who allegedly stabbed his wife and two daughters to death in 1999 was found murdered in a prison shower in Washington State Penitentiary on Sunday, March. 13.

The body of Davya Cross, 62, who was sentenced to death in 2001 for the 1999 murders of his wife Anouchka Baldwin, 37, and two stepdaughters, Salome, 18, and Amanda, 15, was discovered dead in the communal showers at Washington State Penitentiary on Sunday, March 13, at around 1:15 p.m. by corrections officers, Law & Crime reported.

The Walla Walla County Coroner’s office classified the case as a homicide. The local police who are now investigating the death said a suspect has been identified and moved to “appropriate housing” pending further investigation.

In 1999, Baldwin’s youngest daughter M.B. awoke at night to the sounds of Cross stabbing her mother and oldest sister Salome to death with a kitchen knife. After stabbing them to death, Cross then made his way to the room that M.B. shared with Amanda. Even though the two girls tried their best to keep Cross from entering the room, Cross ultimately removed the door from its hinges, entered the room, and proceeded to stab Amanda to death in front of her sister, the Seattle Times reported.

After stabbing Amanda to death, Cross held M.B at knifepoint for five hours while he watched television and drank wine. However, when Cross fell asleep, M.B took the opportunity, fled the house, and alerted the authorities regarding the murders.

Even though Cross and his lawyer initially entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the defendant later changed the plea to an Alford plea. An Alford plea is reportedly used when a defendant feels that a guilty verdict is unavoidable and wants to mitigate the potential punishment.

Cross was convicted of three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping and was sentenced to death.

However, his death sentence was converted to life in prison when Washington’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that the state’s use of capital punishment was unconstitutional.

Cross is reported to have tried to commit suicide twice in the wake of the murders. The failed suicide attempts resulted in Cross fracturing his skull and cervical column, injuring his brain and spine, and rendering himself paraplegic.