Murders Ventura County

After listening to Sherri Dally's mother describe how she is haunted by images of her daughter being murdered with an ax and "thrown like a bag of trash down a ravine," a Ventura judge sentenced Michael Dally on Tuesday to life in prison without parole for his wife's murder. Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell also ordered Dally to pay $10,000 in restitution to the state and $15,000 to the family of his dead wife.

Michael Dally's co-workers told a jury Wednesday that he was an arrogant braggart who showed no respect for women and boasted about being so smart that he could "get away with murder." Eight co-workers from the Oxnard grocery store where Dally worked took the witness stand in his murder trial and portrayed him as a man fully capable of killing his wife. But their testimony was not without setbacks for the prosecution.

Despite Alan Brett Holland's callous statements and bizarre courtroom antics, a jury spared the convicted killer from execution Friday after deciding his motives were unclear. Given their lingering doubts about the case, jurors said they voted in favor of a lesser punishment--life in prison without the possibility of parole--after 2 1/2 days of contentious deliberations. "It was a very difficult decision," said juror Gail Davidson. "We were split for a long time."

Jury selection in the trial of accused murderer Michael Dally concluded Monday as prosecutors and defense attorneys picked 12 regular and six alternate jurors to serve on the high-profile Ventura County case. The jury, which is dominated by men, will be bused to the Ventura courthouse starting next week for what is expected to be a lengthy trial. Opening statements are set for next Monday.

Expressing horror at the depravity and inaction that allowed a 2-year-old Oxnard girl to be beaten, bitten and slowly tortured to death, a Ventura County judge handed down harsh sentences Friday to the girl's young parents. Rogelio Hernandez, 20, was sentenced to life in prison for killing his daughter, Joselin. His 19-year-old wife, Gabriela, who did not stop the beatings and burns, was sentenced to 15 years to life.

During the first full day of testimony in Michael Dally's murder trial, a former girlfriend told jurors that Dally hated his wife so much he wanted to kill her and make her suffer for trapping him in a loveless marriage. "He wanted to stab her," said Sallie Lowe, who had an affair with Dally nine years ago. "He also said he wanted someone else to kill her, so he would never be charged with murder."

Likening the case to the movie "Fatal Attraction," an attorney for a Ventura grocery store manager accused of killing his wife told a jury Monday that the murder was carried out by the husband's obsessive lover acting alone. The lawyer made his comments as 37-year-old Michael Dally went on trial in Ventura County, where his former lover already has been convicted in a plot to kidnap and kill his wife of 14 years. Dally faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

In a last-ditch move to save his life, convicted killer Michael Dally took the witness stand Monday at the penalty phase of his trial--wiping tears from his eyes and denying any involvement in the 1996 slaying of his wife, Sherri. "I had nothing to do with the kidnapping, the murder," Dally said somberly, staring at the jury charged with deciding his punishment. "I happen to love my wife very deeply." The decision to testify opened the 37-year-old defendant up to questioning by the prosecution.

Outside Courtroom 45, a restless crowd waited for the information everybody wanted to know. Elbow to elbow, they jostled for a glimpse of the tiny, soundless television monitor that linked them to the drama inside. "They're giving the verdict now," said one person, spotting Judge Charles W. Campbell's lips moving. "He's guilty of aiding and abetting," another shouted. "Financial gain," said another, listening on headphones.

When Diana Haun's lawyers urged a jury to spare her from execution, they argued that when compared to more notorious killers, she was not among "the worst of the worst." It worked. After recommending a sentence of life in prison without parole, jurors said the defense argument was persuasive: Haun was not on par with the likes of Charles Manson or Richard Ramirez, though she had fatally stabbed her lover's wife.