[4] A native of Oklahoma, Waldon was apprehended on June 16, 1986, after San Diego, California police attempted to pull him over for a routine traffic citation.

In 2023, Waldon's convictions were overturned by the California Supreme Court on grounds that he was denied representation by competent counsel.

[6] The crime spree which Waldon was convicted of began in Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 10, 1985, when a man was robbed and wounded.

Ellerman's 13-year-old daughter died of smoke inhalation while trying to rescue her mother from the house, which had been set on fire.

[7] On December 19, a man later identified as Waldon was spotted fleeing a robbery in his car by police, who soon gave chase.

Waldon managed to evade the police and abandoned the car, soon after running to the residence of 59-year-old Gordon Wells, who was shot and killed.

[4] According to the FBI, Waldon had held a variety of different jobs and had served in the U.S. Navy for ten years, where he had been trained in deep sea diving.

Waldon was additionally noted to speak and understand several different languages, including French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Esperanto.

Later that day, a driver in a car matching the description of Roman's attempted to speed away from police and fled on foot when they tried to stop him for a broken tail light.

Police apprehended and arrested the man, who gave his name as “Stephen Midas” but was later identified as Waldon through a fingerprint match.

[23] During his trial, Waldon alleged that he had been beaten by federal agents and framed for the crimes over his 'promotion of Indian autonomy'.

[24] Waldon additionally claimed that during his fugitive state, he had hid in the crawlspace of a house in Imperial Beach, fearing that he would be convicted anyway if he pleaded innocent.

[26] On January 23, 2023, Waldon's murder convictions and death sentences were overturned on grounds of courtroom behavior, his 'delusional' self-representation and a trial court judge's decision that had improperly allowed him to represent himself "without considering (the other judge's) denial or the evidence on which it was based" had deprived him of competent legal representation.