His adoptive parents were caring, but had great difficulty controlling him, and got him into a counseling course in the Florida Everglades.

After Perry dropped out and started stealing from his adoptive parents, they admitted him to various reform schools and therapy programs, all of which were unsuccessful.

[2] In 1997, Perry was sent to Boys Town, a reform school founded by Edward J. Flanagan in Nebraska.

[2] Perry's adoptive parents eventually sent him to a private residential treatment program in Mexico called Casa by the Sea which housed many other American youths with behavioral problems.

An older man invited him off the street to a drug-fueled party, then offered him a place to stay.

He returned to Texas after his adoptive parents told him he could still move back home with them if he got a job, but he did not take up their proposition.

[2] Burkett's mother used methamphetamine while she was pregnant and neglected her children, often leaving the oldest sibling to look over the family.

[3] Burkett's father, Delbert, was a career criminal who abused him and the rest of his family.

The two devised a plan to ask Sandra to spend the night there and then steal her Camaro while they were asleep.

[5] Perry and Burkett started to leave but then decided to steal the car while Sandra was home.

Burkett distracted Sandra while Perry, armed with a shotgun, snuck inside.

He hid inside the laundry room and knocked on the back door, shooting Sandra when she responded.

They then drove to Conroe, Texas and picked up Burkett's girlfriend, Kristen Willis.

While they were waiting, they devised a plan to tell Adam that a friend of theirs had accidentally shot himself in the woods and that they needed help.

[2] According to Perry's initial confession, Burkett approached them, alone, with a shotgun after Adam parked.

Burkett, who had fatally shot Richardson earlier, asked them if they heard gunshots.

Perry stole Adam's wallet and car keys and drove off with the Camaro.

[2] On October 26, Perry was driving the Camaro when police saw him commit a traffic violation.

After a police chase which resulted in Perry wrecking the car, he fled on foot.

Two days later, Perry threatened Willis with a loaded shotgun and told her to not talk about the murders.

[2] Three days later, a sheriff spotted Adam's stolen car at a truck stop.

The vehicle crashed, Perry sustained a severe cut to his arm, and Burkett fled on foot.

Willis was granted complete immunity in exchange for testifying against Perry and Burkett.

[2] In February 2003, Perry was found guilty of capital murder after the jury deliberated for two hours.

"[3] Lisa Balloun, Sandra Stotler's daughter, was not swayed by the history of Burkett's childhood abuse, neglect, and drug addiction.

She said that she did not necessarily want Perry or Burkett to be put to death, she thought the alternative, life in prison with parole eligibility after 40 years (Texas did not have life without parole at the time of the murders) was too lenient, and that all the testimony proved to her was that Burkett was irreparably broken.