Death Penalty

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Daniel Wozniak, the Costa Mesa man accused of killing and beheading his neighbor then killing a friend of the neighbor to cover up the first crime, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announced Thursday. The Wozniak case marks the first this year in which the county's top prosecutor and his team are seeking the death penalty. It is the second murder case in Costa Mesa in 2010. "Some murders are committed with such a depraved heart and in such a callous manner that the only punishment that fits the crime is the death penalty," Rackauckas said at a news conference in Santa Ana. On Thursday morning, Rackauckas and his office's Special Circumstances Committee decided that the details behind the slaying of Samuel Herr, 26, and Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23 — both Orange Coast College students — warranted death for their suspected killer.

Bald. Tattooed. Pierced. Outspoken. That's how Jeff Ludington described himself to me over the phone a few days before Christmas. It was a reminder; I've met Ludington, leader of Emerge, the college and young adult ministry of Christ Presbyterian Church, face-to-face more than once. He is also soft-spoken, contagious in his energy and as excited about living for Jesus Christ as anyone I've ever met. In December, while the controversy over whether to execute Stanley "Tookie" Williams raged internationally, I made phone calls and sent out e-mails to a number of local religious leaders asking them to offer their perspectives on the death penalty.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Juan Manuel Alvarez, accused of murdering 11 people in the January Metrolink train derailment, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced in court Friday. A committee met Wednesday to go over the case, and the chairman of the committee, Kurt Hazell, made the final decision, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. "It's not a popular vote," she said. "But the committee discusses the case and the chairman makes the final decision."

I watched the man, a stranger, look at the Russian enamel crucifix hanging from the silver chain around my neck. Every few seconds he'd look at me looking at him, then look back to the crucifix. Finally, looking at me, he said, "Do you ever wonder if in another 2,000 years people will be wearing a guy in an electric chair around their necks?" It's an indelible moment. I'm fairly certain the man meant his question to pack a wallop. And it did. Ten years later, it's indifferent reduction of Jesus to "a guy," to just one more common criminal and its commentary that our modern practices of capital punishment are just as barbaric as the Roman's crucifixion are still very much with me. Most recently, the question floated to the surface of my thoughts again while the world debated whether Stanley "Tookie" Williams should be executed for the murders for which he was convicted.

The man convicted of murdering five firefighters, one of them from Fountain Valley, was sentenced to death by a Riverside judge Friday. Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, was convicted in March on five counts of first-degree murder for starting a fire in San Gorgonio Pass in the Beaumont area that ultimately enveloped the five men in October 2006, confirmed John Hall, a public information officer for the Riverside County district attorney’s office....

The audience applauded and one man yelled “yes” as the serial killer responsible for the death of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl more than 30 years ago was sentenced to death around 4 p.m. Tuesday, witnesses said. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was given the death penalty for the murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe in 1979 and the murder of four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. Alcala was convicted of five counts of murder Feb. 25. “There are 36 people now that all agree that this man deserves to die,” said Robert Samsoe, the brother of victim Robin.

In response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Surf City Assemblyman Tom Harman, along with other California Republicans, are backing several new anti-terrorism bills that will be introduced to the state legislature when it reconvenes next month. Harman calls it a "Republican-backed package" of 15 bills that call for increasing criminal penalties for terrorism acts, such as placement of biological agents, toxins, or destructive devices on or near bridges, tunnels or roads, and would allow law enforcement to use wiretaps to investigate terrorist activity.

A man awaiting a third trial for the 1979 murder of a Huntington Beach girl was arraigned Monday in Orange County Superior Court on a grand jury indictment that he killed four women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s. Prosecutors are now calling Rodney James Alcala, 62, a suspected serial killer. Alcala has twice been convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the killing of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe. Both convictions were overturned by appeals courts.

The audience applauded and one man yelled “yes!” as the serial killer responsible for the death of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl more than 30 years ago was sentenced to death Tuesday, witnesses said. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was given the death penalty for the murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe in 1979 and the murder of four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. Alcala was convicted of five counts of murder Feb. 25. “There are 36 people now that all agree that this man deserves to die,” said Robert Samsoe, the brother of victim Robin.

More than 30 years after 12-year-old Robin Samsoe was murdered, former Huntington Beach Police Department Det. Steve Mack is still awaiting justice. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was found guilty of killing the Huntington Beach girl for the third time last week. He was also convicted of murdering four Los Angeles women. Alcala was twice sentenced to death, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. With the third conviction, the jury is left to decide whether Alcala will get the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Daniel Wozniak, the Costa Mesa man accused of killing and beheading his neighbor then killing a friend of the neighbor to cover up the first crime, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announced Thursday. The Wozniak case marks the first this year in which the county's top prosecutor and his team are seeking the death penalty. It is the second murder case in Costa Mesa in 2010. "Some murders are committed with such a depraved heart and in such a callous manner that the only punishment that fits the crime is the death penalty," Rackauckas said at a news conference in Santa Ana. On Thursday morning, Rackauckas and his office's Special Circumstances Committee decided that the details behind the slaying of Samuel Herr, 26, and Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23 — both Orange Coast College students — warranted death for their suspected killer.

An Orange County Superior Court judge Tuesday sentenced to death a serial killer responsible for killing a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl and four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. Judge Francisco Briseno accepted a jury?s recommendation that Rodney James Alcala, 66, die for the 1979 murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe and the Los Angeles victims. Alcala was convicted in Santa Ana on Feb. 25 of five counts of murder. ?This serial killer is a monster who, for his own sexual gratification ... uses his victims and then ends their lives,?

The audience applauded and one man yelled “yes!” as the serial killer responsible for the death of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl more than 30 years ago was sentenced to death Tuesday, witnesses said. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was given the death penalty for the murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe in 1979 and the murder of four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. Alcala was convicted of five counts of murder Feb. 25. “There are 36 people now that all agree that this man deserves to die,” said Robert Samsoe, the brother of victim Robin.

The audience applauded and one man yelled “yes” as the serial killer responsible for the death of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl more than 30 years ago was sentenced to death around 4 p.m. Tuesday, witnesses said. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was given the death penalty for the murder and kidnapping of Robin Samsoe in 1979 and the murder of four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. Alcala was convicted of five counts of murder Feb. 25. “There are 36 people now that all agree that this man deserves to die,” said Robert Samsoe, the brother of victim Robin.

More than 30 years after 12-year-old Robin Samsoe was murdered, former Huntington Beach Police Department Det. Steve Mack is still awaiting justice. Rodney James Alcala, 66, was found guilty of killing the Huntington Beach girl for the third time last week. He was also convicted of murdering four Los Angeles women. Alcala was twice sentenced to death, but the convictions were overturned on appeal. With the third conviction, the jury is left to decide whether Alcala will get the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

More than 40 years after the incident, the 8-year-old girl with pigtails is now a woman. On Tuesday, she sat across from her attacker in a Santa Ana courtroom, testified against him and then listened as he apologized for his actions. Newport Beach resident Tali Shapiro, who willingly identified herself and discussed the case with the media after providing her testimony, was lured into Rodney James Alcala’s car and sexually assaulted by him in 1968. Alcala, 66, was found guilty Feb. 25 of the murder and kidnapping of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl in 1979 and four Los Angeles women in the 1970s.

More than 40 years after the incident, the 8-year-old girl with pigtails is now a woman. On Tuesday, she sat across from her attacker in a Santa Ana courtroom, testified against him and then listened as he apologized for his actions. Newport Beach resident Tali Shapiro, who willingly identified herself and discussed the case with the media after providing her testimony, was lured into Rodney James Alcala’s car and sexually assaulted by him in 1968. Alcala, 66, was found guilty Thursday of the murder and kidnapping of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl in 1979 and four Los Angeles women in the 1970s.

SANTA ANA — An Orange County jury on Thursday found Rodney James Alcala guilty of five counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and multiple special circumstances counts for torture, oral copulation and rape for the murder of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach resident in 1979 and four Los Angeles women in the late 1970s. It was Alcala’s third guilty conviction for killing Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach. He has twice been convicted and sentenced to death , but the convictions were overturned on appeal.