Jury Convicts Oxnard Man in 1992 Slaying

After deliberating three days, a Ventura County jury Tuesday convicted Christopher James Sattiewhite of first-degree murder and special circumstances of rape and kidnaping that could send the Oxnard man to the gas chamber.

The panel also found Sattiewhite, 24, guilty of separate counts of rape and kidnaping in connection with the killing of Genoveva Gonzales of Oxnard.

In two weeks, the same jury will begin hearing additional testimony to decide whether Sattiewhite should be sent to Death Row or given life in prison without parole for slaying the 30-year-old woman.

Sattiewhite’s lawyers had conceded that their client fatally shot Gonzales on Jan. 26, 1992. But they argued that the woman was not raped or kidnaped by Sattiewhite prior to the shooting.

As the court clerk read the verdicts, Sattiewhite clasped his hands on the table in front of him and appeared to clench his teeth. His defense attorney, Willard P. Wiksell, also showed signs of obvious frustration, pursing his lips and leaning back in his chair.

Wiksell, who last week delivered an impassioned two-hour closing argument to the jury, said outside court that he was “very disappointed” by the verdicts.

“Now the task is to keep Mr. Sattiewhite out of the gas chamber,” Wiksell said.

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The reaction from the prosecution was different.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn, known for his reserved style, embraced co-prosecutor Patricia M. Murphy as soon as the jury left the room. He did the same to Beth Hamilton, the district attorney’s investigator who has spent more than a year collecting evidence against Sattiewhite.

Glynn later said the relatively short time of deliberation signaled that the jury would render guilty verdicts.

“It’s my impression that the jury carefully analyzed the evidence and applied the law to the verdict,” he said. “The evidence justifies the verdict.”

Glynn also said the verdicts are especially sweet because the case got off to a rocky start for the prosecution.

Sattiewhite and a second man who remains under investigation were not indicted until 13 months after two fishermen discovered Gonzales’ partially nude body in a ditch along Arnold Road in Oxnard the day after she was shot.

Glynn credited the jury’s decision to the work of Hamilton and the two investigators who handled the case for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department--Sgt. Michael Barnes and Detective Richard Gatling. He said they interviewed dozens of witnesses and traveled statewide to put together the case against Sattiewhite.

“It wasn’t any slam-dunk investigation,” Glynn said. “It took a year to put it together. Those officers worked long and hard and traveled a lot.”

From the very beginning of the trial four weeks ago, Wiksell told the jury that Sattiewhite was the triggerman in Gonzales’ death. Sattiewhite put the gun to her head, Wiksell said in court, and squeezed the trigger.

But the attorney told jurors that the confession alone did not make his client eligible for the gas chamber. He said the prosecution needed to prove that Sattiewhite was guilty of the other two charges against him--kidnap and rape.

And Wiksell argued that Sattiewhite did neither.

Wiksell also contended that Gonzales was a prostitute who voluntarily accepted a ride with Sattiewhite and alleged accomplice Fred Jackson. She was looking to score some dope in exchange for sex with Jackson, Wiksell said in court.

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According to Wiksell’s version of the crime, Jackson had consensual sex with Gonzales but reneged on his promise to give her drugs. She became upset, he said, and spit on Jackson, irritating him.

Jackson ordered Sattiewhite to kill Gonzales at that point, Wiksell told the jury. He claimed that Sattiewhite feared Jackson and did as he was told.

Jackson is serving more than 50 years in another rape-robbery case and has not been charged in Gonzales’ murder, although prosecutors said they plan to charge him once the Sattiewhite trial concludes.

Glynn’s main point was that even if Gonzales voluntarily got into the car with Sattiewhite and Jackson, she later was raped by Jackson and prevented from getting out of the vehicle. Sattiewhite was charged with rape and kidnap because he aided and abetted the crime, Glynn said.

“I felt if they would find guilty on the rape, they’d find guilty on the kidnaping,” Glynn said.

Sattiewhite is serving a 21-year sentence in a separate rape-robbery case. Glynn said he will ask the jury to send the defendant to Death Row based on his extensive criminal history, which also includes a drug conviction.

Wiksell, however, said he hopes to persuade the jury to spare Sattiewhite’s life.

“We’ll put on reliable, credible evidence that he has a brain defect, that he’s a follower,” Wiksell said. “He did as told. He did it out of fear.”