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Death Penalty VerdictUpheld Against SlayerFRESNO (AP) - ASuperior Court judge upheld the first death penalty verdiet pronounced Here in 17 years, sentencing a Clovis man to die in the gas chamber for killing a Modesto woman.Douglas R. Stankewitz, 20, was ordered to San Quentin Thursday for ex* eeutlon by Judge Robert L, Martin after the judge denied defense attorneys' motions to reduce the pen* aity to life Imprisonment without possibility of parole,ig • SILVERITURE • OILS, Eto.lipectlonSat. Sun.m El 7-8 pinant sale!onzes, rugs, oils andI's and ladles watches diamonds, emeralds, tralds and sapphires.Kffl*•n b» arrangedMartin said the jury’s Sept, 27th verdict was sup* ported by overwhelming evidence presented at the trial. The same Superior Court jury previously found Stankewitz guilty of kidnapping, robbery and first-degree murder in the Feb, S shooting death of a Modesto woman, Theresa Powlows* ki, also known as Theresa Qraybeal, 22,During the pronouncement, Stankewitz smiled, the court clerk said,This was the first Fresno County trial in which the death penalty was ordered since 1961 when James Abner Bentley, 27, was convicted of murdering a liquor store operator and executed two years later, the next to the last person to receive the death penalty In California. The state's last execution occurred in 1967, A 15-year-old witness testified during the trie! that Mrs; Qraybeal was kidnapped from a Modesto shopping center because Stankewitz and four others wanted to use her car to return to Fresno. Their carhad been impounded by Manteca police,The witness also testified that Stankewitz shot Mrs, Graybeal at point-blank range, then bragged: Did 1 drop her or did I drop her?”The trial was delayed When Stankewitz escaped from a courtroom holding cell that had not been locked properly. He was recaptured here two days later without a struggle.
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Orange County Register Evening
Santa Ana, California, US
Fri, Oct 13, 1978
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Lake C.
IN, USA 30 Jul 2020
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