James Gregory Marlow

Here we are in "the Cindy Room," surrounded by remnants of her violent past and, possibly, her deadly future. From this cubbyhole near the Orange County Courthouse, two public defenders are marshaling their arguments to save Cynthia Lynn Coffman, the first woman sentenced to California's gas chamber since the Manson followers.

Prosecutors in the capital murder trial of Cynthia Lynn Coffman attempted to show Monday that, contrary to the defense, she was not under the domination of her lover when they killed a 19-year-old Huntington Beach woman. The 30-year-old St. Louis woman has already been sentenced to death for assisting James Gregory Marlow in the sex killing of Corinna D. Novis, 20, who was abducted from a Redlands mall and killed in November, 1986.

A defense attorney for convicted sex killer James Gregory Marlow conceded his client's guilt Wednesday at the start of his trial for murdering a second woman, telling jurors that the defense's goal is to save Marlow from the gas chamber. Marlow, 35, is charged with the 1986 killing of a Huntington Beach woman, with four special circumstances: burglary, robbery, kidnaping and rape.

Cynthia Lynn Coffman testified Thursday that her relationship with a tattooed, motorcycle-riding ex-convict was more important to her than the lives of the three people she helped him kill. The 30-year-old St. Louis woman, already sentenced to death for the sex killing of a woman in San Bernardino County, faces a second death sentence for a similar attack on a Huntington Beach college student, Lynel Murray. In addition to the deaths of 20-year-old Corinna D.

Kidnaping and murder charges were filed Tuesday in Orange County Municipal Court against transients James Gregory Marlow, 30, and Cynthia Lynn Coffman, 24, in the strangulation killing of 19-year-old college student Lynel Murray of Huntington Beach. Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Toohey said he will seek the death penalty because the Nov. 12 slaying occurred in the course of burglary, robbery, rape and kidnaping.

Sentencing for Cynthia Lynn Coffman and James Gregory Marlow, who received jury death verdicts for the murder of a young Redlands woman, has been postponed until Aug. 30 at the request of Coffman's attorneys. Coffman and Marlow are scheduled to be brought to Orange County from San Bernardino after sentencing to stand trial in the murder of a young Huntington Beach woman who was killed Nov. 12, 1986, just five days after the Redlands victim. Coffman attorney Donald W. Jordan Jr.

Coroners have determined the cause of death of Corinna D. Novis, 20, a Redlands woman whose body was found buried last month in a shallow grave in Fontana. Jim Alexander, San Bernardino County chief deputy coroner, said the results of tissue biopsies established the cause of death as strangulation and suffocation. Police have charged Cynthia Lynn Coffman and James Gregory Marlow, two transients, with the kidnaping and murder of Novis. She was abducted Nov.

James Gregory Marlow, already facing the gas chamber for the murder of a Redlands woman, was handed a second death sentence Monday for kidnaping, raping and killing a Huntington Beach woman. The jury, which began deliberations Friday afternoon, returned the verdict Monday after a total of four hours. "We are gratified the jury agreed with us that his conduct in kidnaping, robbing and raping this girl . . . warranted the death penalty," Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert C. Gannon Jr. said.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday reluctantly accepted the jury's recommendation that James Gregory Marlow be sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a Huntington Beach woman. Judge Donald McCartin said he thought Marlow had changed since he tortured and strangled the 19-year-old woman, but the circumstances of the "hideous" crime gave him "no choice" but to impose the death sentence. "This has been an extremely difficult case for me," McCartin said.

A man who already faces the death penalty for the sex murder of one woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to raping and killing a Huntington Beach woman he and his girlfriend abducted at gunpoint from a dry-cleaning shop. James Gregory Marlow's guilty plea, which came in the middle of his trial, is an attempt to avoid the gas chamber, his attorneys said. Despite his plea, Marlow, 35, still faces either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty for the Nov.

A St. Louis woman, already sentenced to death for her part in the sex-slaying of a San Bernardino woman and facing a second death sentence in a similar Orange County killing, testified Wednesday that she and her lover began a cross-country crime spree with an earlier murder in Kentucky. Cynthia Lynn Coffman, 30, is being tried for murder, kidnaping, rape, robbery, burglary and using a firearm in the Nov.

A 30-year-old woman already sentenced to death for a murderous rampage with her lover was variously described Wednesday as a cowed slave and as a jealous instigator, as her trial for a second slaying began. Cynthia Lynn Coffman of San Bernardino faces a second death sentence if convicted of charges including the kidnaping, rape and murder of 19-year-old Lynel Murray, a college student who was working at a Huntington Beach dry cleaners.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday reluctantly accepted the jury's recommendation that James Gregory Marlow be sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a Huntington Beach woman. Judge Donald McCartin said he thought Marlow had changed since he tortured and strangled the 19-year-old woman, but the circumstances of the "hideous" crime gave him "no choice" but to impose the death sentence. "This has been an extremely difficult case for me," McCartin said.

Here we are in "the Cindy Room," surrounded by remnants of her violent past and, possibly, her deadly future. From this cubbyhole, two Orange County public defenders are marshaling their arguments to save Cynthia Lynn Coffman, the first woman sentenced to California's gas chamber since the Manson followers.

Here we are in "the Cindy Room," surrounded by remnants of her violent past and, possibly, her deadly future. From this cubbyhole near the Orange County Courthouse, two public defenders are marshaling their arguments to save Cynthia Lynn Coffman, the first woman sentenced to California's gas chamber since the Manson followers.

Sitting in a visitor's booth at Orange County Jail, convicted sex murderer James Gregory Marlow ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh. He said he didn't understand why the district attorney was seeking the death penalty against him when he had already been sentenced to die in the gas chamber in another case. "What do they want to do, kill me twice?" he asked. "I can only die once."

Prosecutors in the capital murder trial of Cynthia Lynn Coffman attempted to show Monday that, contrary to the defense, she was not under the domination of her lover when they killed a 19-year-old Huntington Beach woman. The 30-year-old St. Louis woman has already been sentenced to death for assisting James Gregory Marlow in the sex killing of Corinna D. Novis, 20, who was abducted from a Redlands mall and killed in November, 1986.

Cynthia Lynn Coffman testified Thursday that her relationship with a tattooed, motorcycle-riding ex-convict was more important to her than the lives of the three people she helped him kill. The 30-year-old St. Louis woman, already sentenced to death for the sex killing of a woman in San Bernardino County, faces a second death sentence for a similar attack on a Huntington Beach college student, Lynel Murray. In addition to the deaths of 20-year-old Corinna D.

James Gregory Marlow, already facing the gas chamber for the murder of a Redlands woman, was handed a second death sentence Monday for kidnaping, raping and killing a Huntington Beach woman. The jury, which began deliberations Friday afternoon, returned the verdict Monday after a total of four hours. "We are gratified the jury agreed with us that his conduct in kidnaping, robbing and raping this girl . . . warranted the death penalty," Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert C. Gannon Jr. said.

A man who pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of a Huntington Beach woman should be spared from the gas chamber because he was "emotionally crippled" by childhood abuse from his mother, a defense attorney said Friday. James Gregory Marlow has already been sentenced to death for the murder of another woman. He sat impassively, staring down at his hands during the penalty phase of his trial as his attorney, George A.