Topic: Robert Alton Harris

Robert Alton Harris (January 15, 1953 – April 21, 1992) was an American career criminal and murderer who was executed in San Quentin's gas chamber in 1992. This marked the first execution in the state of California since 1967. Harris had killed two teenage boys in 1978. Harris' execution is specifically remembered for his peculiar choice of final words (recorded by Warden Daniel Vasquez): "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper." This was a reference to the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, released in 1991.

On July 5, 1978, Harris and his 18-year-old brother, Daniel, decided to steal a getaway car for a holdup they were planning at a branch of the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank. By chance they came upon John Mayeski, 15, and Michael Baker, 16, both high school sophomores, sitting in a green Ford LTD in a parking lot eating Jack in the Box hamburgers.

Armed with a 9mm Luger automatic pistol, Robert Harris commandeered Mayseki's car and ordered him to drive to a wooded area near Miramar Lake. He promised them no one would be hurt.