On September 5, 1980, Hamilton murdered Schletewitz and fellow employees Josephine Rocha, 17, and Douglas White, 18, with a sawn-off shotgun and wounded two other people, Joe Rios and Jack Abbott.
Hamilton shot Schletewitz at near point-blank range in the forehead and murdered Rocha and White after forcing them to lie on the ground within the store.
Five days after the events at Fran's Market, Hamilton was arrested shortly after robbing a liquor store in Modesto, California.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death, and the Contra Costa County Superior Court sentenced Hamilton on March 2, 1981.
Hamilton was on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California where he died from cancer on October 22, 2007 at the age of 58.