[1] Spenkelink escaped from a California prison in 1972, where he was serving a five-years-to-life sentence for armed robbery of a fast food restaurant, five gas stations, and two people.

[citation needed] Spenkelink claimed he had acted in self-defense—that Szymankiewicz had stolen his money, forced him to play Russian roulette, and sexually assaulted him.

[5][better source needed] After he was charged, Spenkelink turned down a plea bargain to second-degree murder that would have resulted in a life sentence.

[12][3] That morning, Doug Tracht, a popular Jacksonville disc jockey known as "The Greaseman," aired a recording of sizzling bacon on his radio program and dedicated it to Spenkelink.

Governor Graham commissioned an investigation, which in September 1979 concluded that Spenkelink had been "taunted" and had loud exchanges with prison guards and staff immediately before his execution, but had not been physically abused.

[18] The rumor reached Spenkelink's mother Lois, who, after encouragement from a spiritual advisor, paid to have her son's body exhumed for a post-mortem examination.

[19] On March 6, 1981, Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi announced his finding that the cause of Spenkelink's death was indeed electrocution.