P. v. Gurule CA2/5
Over thirty-eight years ago, on September 20, 1979, Barbara Ballman was raped and murdered. She was 23 years old. Her killer was not identified until 2004, when DNA collected from her body in 1979 was matched to defendant Darrel Mark Gurule.
Thirty-seven years after Ballman died, on September 21, 2016, a jury convicted defendant of first degree murder. The jury found true a personal firearm use allegation. Two special circumstances were also found true—that defendant was previously convicted of first degree murder, and that he murdered Ballman while committing rape. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on imposing the death penalty. After that result, the prosecution declined to retry the penalty phase. The trial court sentenced defendant to life without the possibility of parole plus four years.
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