Execution of Charles Rhines

The execution of Charles Rhines occurred on November 4, 2019, at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Rhines was executed for the 1992 murder of Donnivan Schaefer, whom he killed during a burglary at a doughnut shop in Rapid City. His execution generated attention due to claims that the jury had sentenced him to death because he was gay and that his death sentence was tainted by anti-gay bias. Rhines remains the most recent person executed in South Dakota.

On November 4, 2019, Rhines was executed via lethal injection at South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. He was pronounced dead at 7:39 p.m. In his final statement, he forgave Schaeffer's parents and thanked his legal team.

Rhines did not deny killing Schaeffer. He argued that his death sentence was inappropriate because his crime was no worse than "dozens of other killers" in the state. In 2014, Rhines wrote a letter listing seventeen other convicted murderers in South Dakota who did not receive the death penalty. He also pointed out other murders that had occurred between 1991 and 1992 in South Dakota, of which none of the perpetrators had received the death penalty.

On January 26, 1993, Rhines was sentenced to death. All twelve members of the jury found Rhines should be sentenced to death by lethal injection. They found three aggravating circumstances surrounding the murder: Rhines had killed a witness to a crime, killed for money, and the murder was torturous or showed depravity of mind. Following the verdict, Rhines leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands.

On March 8, 1992, Rhines entered the shop with a copy of the back door key and began burglarizing the place, which was unoccupied. As Rhines robbed the shop, he was suddenly interrupted by 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer, an employee who worked there. Schaeffer was a courier who had come to the shop to pick up supplies. Rhines ambushed Schaeffer and stabbed him in the stomach. Schaeffer begged to be taken to the hospital and vowed to keep silent, however, Rhines instead forced him into a store room where he tied him up and stabbed him to death. Rhines then stole over $3,000 USD from the shop and fled the area.

In June 1991, Rhines was hired by Dennis Digges to work as a night baker at Dig 'Em Donuts shop in Rapid City. According to the co-owner of the business, they did not know about Rhines's criminal record. Rhines was not liked while working at the shop and was eventually fired in February 1992 for failing to follow orders. After running out of money, Rhines decided to burglarize the shop a few weeks after his dismissal.

Charles Russell Rhines was born on July 11, 1956, in McLaughlin, South Dakota, the last of four children born to Richard and Ruth Rhines. Rhines attended McLaughlin Public School but dropped out in his sophomore year. He enlisted in the army and served three years as an infantryman, earning his high school General Equivalency Degree. He went on to study at the University of South Dakota in Springfield for vocational training. However, he never completed the course as he was caught burglarizing another student's room. He was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years in prison. After being paroled, he robbed a liquor store with a shotgun and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in 1987.