Stanislaus County death penalty cases 1990-2010

Stanislaus County death penalty cases, 1990-2010
Over the past 20 years, Stanislaus County prosecutors filed criminal charges against 23 people against whom
they initially sought the death penalty. About half of them are currently on death row.
Defendant's Name Offense Date Result Prison Sentence Facts of Case
Edward Mitchell 6/7/2006 Case pending Prosecutors say Mitchell was the triggerman in
a string of robberies that left convenience store
owner Balbir Boyal dead and injured clerks at
three other stores. In each case, Mitchell's
accomplice said they made off with less than
$20.
Laron Davis 6/7/2006 Pled 6 years Davis pleaded guilty to being the getaway
driver in Mitchell's robbery spree as part of a
plea deal for his testimony against Mitchell.
Columbus Allen 2/17/2006 Pled Life without parole The Stockton man pleaded guilty to the traffic
stop murder of California Highway Patrolman
Earl Scott on Monday. Allen said he feared
Scott would take him back to prison because
he was a felon with a gun in his car.
Scott Peterson 12/24/2002 Convicted Death The Modesto fertilizer salesman became a
household name for killing his pregnant wife,
Laci, and unborn son, Conner.
Gilberto Cano 4/20/2002 Pled 17 years to life Martha Moreno, 29, of Modesto was six months
pregnant when she was strangled and stabbed
in her Airport Neighborhood home. Prosecutors
said several stab wounds were clearly an
"attempt to kill the baby." A defense attorney
argued Cano suffered from mental illness
Huber Mendoza 12/12/2001 Convicted Death Mendoza donned a flak jacket, loaded three
guns and crashed through a picture window to
kill his mother-in-law, his estranged wife’s
cousin and a man his wife was dating.
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Stanislaus County death penalty cases, 1990-2010
Defendant's Name Offense Date Result Prison Sentence Facts of Case
Christopher Shane Mulvaney 4/26/2001 Pled Life without parole The Turlock mortuary worker raped and
murdered 33-year-old Susan Eyre, whose body
was found in the bathroom of her northwest
Modesto apartment.
Ronald James Ward Jr. 12/30/2000 Pled Life without parole
x 2
The serial killer admitted to killing Shela La Rae
Polly, 32, of Modesto, whose body was found
partially-clothed covered by leaves at the base
of an oak tree on the bank of Dry Creek in east
Modesto. He also killed Jacquelyn "Jackie"
Travis, 49, of Merced. An autopsy showed
Travis was beaten, stabbed and sexually
assaulted before she was strangled in her east
Merced apartment.
Michael Bell 1/20/1997 Convicted Death The Turlock man killed Semon Francis, a
convenience store clerk and newlywed,
execution-style to make off with $261.
George Apostos Souliotes 1/17/1997 Convicted Life without parole Souliotes set his Modesto home ablaze, killing
his 30-year-old tenant and her two children,
aged 3 and 6. Jurors said Souliotes should
spend the rest of his life in prison because he
wanted to get rid of the house for financial gain
and didn’t intend to kill anyone.
Wedson Rosa Demorais 1/15/1997 Convicted Life without parole The Brazilian man got life in prison without the
possibility of parole, not death, for the stabbing
deaths of his wife’s grandparents, both 79-yearold
former Newman educators. The case
generated widespread interest in Brazil, which
does not impose the death penalty.
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Stanislaus County death penalty cases, 1990-2010
Defendant's Name Offense Date Result Prison Sentence Facts of Case
Jerry Davis 9/21/1996 Pled 10 years Davis pleaded no contest to manslaughter after
a jury deadlocked. Sharon McFarland, 55, was
shot as she backed her car from a parking stall
outside the mall. She and her mother had been
shopping for a dress to wear at the wedding of
McFarland's daughter. Investigators said Davis
either was trying to rob McFarland, steal her
car or both.
Arthur Sanchez 8/11/1996 Pled Life without parole Sanchez did not contest charges he raped and
slit the throat of 65-year-old Mary Martha
Odermatt, who was a cook at Turlock's Sacred
Heart Catholic Church. Months later, he was
arrested and tied to violent attacks on three
others:
• The Aug. 31, 1986, stabbing death of 16-yearold
Angela Turnbough of Keyes. Her partially
clothed body was found on the floor of her
bedroom, with a knife through her throat.
• The Oct. 6, 1986, rape and stabbing of a 25-
year-old woman who was attacked at her
apartment on Scenic Drive in Modesto. She
broke free and staggered outside, collapsing on
a sidewalk.
• The 1982 rape of a woman who was attacked
near the county library in Modesto. She had
been carrying her 17-month-old daughter, had
car trouble and was looking for a phone to call
for help.
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Stanislaus County death penalty cases, 1990-2010
Defendant's Name Offense Date Result Prison Sentence Facts of Case
Daniel Whalen 3/21/1994 Convicted Death Whalen gunned down a 67-year-old housesitter
in a rural Modesto farmhouse. Sherman T.
Robbins was shot once in the head as he lay
on the living room sofa, his hands bound
behind his back with a necktie. Whalen made
off with a microwave, a television, guns and a
jar filled with pennies.
Brian Johnsen 3/1/1992 Convicted Death Johnsen bludgeoned a 74-year-old woman with
a hammer, then stabbed her to death as she
lay in bed. Juanita Bragg had come to Modesto
from Missouri with her husband, who suffered
severe brain damage in the attack, to help their
daughter move to Riverbank to be free of
Jason Ian Lamarsh 5/20/1990 Convicted 64 years
Richard Viera 5/20/1990 Convicted Death
Ronald Wayne Willey 5/20/1990 Convicted 64 years
James David Beck 5/20/1990 Convicted Death
Gerald Dean Cruz 5/20/1990 Convicted Death
repeated break-ins.
The five men believed to be part of a
paramilitary cult beat and knifed four people to
death in what became known as the Salida
Massacre.
Rodney San Nicolas 5/6/1990 Convicted Death San Nicolas murdered his wife, 35-year-old
Mary James, after an argument over his lack of
job prospects. He also raped and murdered his
9-year-old niece April James after she saw him
in the bathroom holding a knife he used to kill
his wife.
Michael Slaughter 1/24/1990 Convicted Death Slaughter killed two men and wounded a third
so he could grab a bag containing more than
$20,000 in drug money and buy a turbocharged
sports car.
Dennis Lawley 1/22/1989 Convicted Death The Modesto man was behind the murder-forhire
of a man who had allegedly robbed and
beat Lawley in the past.
Sources: Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office, Bee archives
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