Deanna's Daydreamer
07-04-2009, 01:10 AM
Execute them all and let God sort 'em out.
California waits to try serial killer
By Stacy Moore
Hi-Desert Star
Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:34 AM CDT
MORONGO BASIN — The serial killer who confessed to murdering two women while he was stationed at the Twentynine Palms Marine base and later kidnapping a 19-year-old from Joshua Tree will face trial in California, but not until he has exhausted his appeals in Illinois, where he sits on death row.
Howard Gundy, the senior deputy district attorney who is coordinating the case in California, said he does not want to give Andrew Urdiales a reprieve from the court system in Illinois, where he was convicted of killing three women.
An extradition to California now would play right into the confessed killer’s hands, Gundy said. After all, the only thing Urdiales has to look forward to in Illinois is death.
“Every day he’s in California is a day his appeal is stalled in Illinois,” said the prosecutor.
Gundy, who works for Orange County, recently discussed the Urdiales prosecution with district attorneys from San Diego and Riverside counties; the former Marine is wanted for killing a total of five women in all three jurisdictions.
“We agree at this point that Mr. Urdiales has a right to be in the state of Illinois,” Gundy said in a telephone interview Friday.
“What we are looking for is a window where we can bring Mr. Urdiales to California to stand trial that will not interrupt Illinois proceedings. That window will come,” Gundy said. “When, I don’t know, but that window will come.”
A trail of death across two states
Arrested in Illinois in 1997 after he called the police to complain a prostitute had stolen his money, Urdiales quickly confessed to eight murders, describing how he began killing women while a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton and the Twentynine Palms base.
Once discharged from the Marine Corps, he moved to Illinois and took a job as a security guard, enabling him to secure another gun for his murders.
He also took vacations to the Palm Springs area, where he kept a storage facility with weapons and mementos from his victims. He killed two more women and kidnapped a 19-year-old from Joshua Tree.
“This guy was unbelievable the manner in which he planned these kidnappings and murders,” said Chicago prosecutor Jim McKay in a telephone interview Monday.
Illinois documents prepared by McKay and others, based upon Uridales’ confessions, detail the actions of a man who told a court-appointed doctor he was excited by watching women suffer.
• January 1986: Robbin Brandley of Laguna Beach is stabbed 41 times in a parking lot at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. Urdiales will later tell police he saw her in the dark lot and spontaneously decided to kill her. Afterward, he returns to the Camp Pendleton Marine base where he is stationed.
• July 1988: Urdiales shoots Julie McGhee and leaves her body in a remote area of Cathedral City. He is stationed at the Twentynine Palms base at the time.
• September 1988: Urdiales shoots Mary Ann Wells in San Diego, then returns to the Twentynine Palms Marine base.
• April 1989: Urdiales picks up Tammy Erwin in Palm Springs, drives her into the remote desert and shoots her three times, using the same gun that killed McGhee and Wells.
• September 1992: After being discharged from the Marines and settling in Chicago, Urdiales takes an airplane to Southern California. In Palm Springs, he gives 19-year-old Jennifer Asbenson of Joshua Tree a ride from work. He restrains her, assaults her and puts her into the trunk of his rental car. She manages to free herself and run away.
http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=8244&pid=279492&st=0&#entry279492
Asbenson eventually will be the only one of Urdiales’ victims to survive to testify against him.
------------------------------------------------------
watch a riveting video interview with Jennifer Asbenson:
http://www.kpsplocal2.com/global/story.asp?s=10467649
-------------------------------------------------------
March 1995: On another vacation to California, Urdiales sees Denise Maney on a Palm Springs street. He drives her to deserted area, ties her up, assaults her and then shoots her.
• April 1996: Urdiales drives Laura Uylaki to Wolf Lake on the Indiana-Chicago border, where he shoots her and throws her body into the water.
• July 1996: Urdiales picks up Cassandra Corum in Livingston County, Ill., restrains her and kills her at the Vermillion River.
• August 1996: Urdiales takes Lynn Huber to Wolf Lake, where he shoots her three times and stabs her 28 times.
• April 1, 1997: Urdiales calls police claiming a prostitute stole a check from him. The woman describes for detectives Urdiales had handcuffed her and duct-taped her wrists and wanted to drive her to Wolf Lake. Recognizing the characteristics of the unsolved murders of Uylaki, Huber and Corum, detectives arrest Urdiales.
‘He’s proud of these murders’
Once he was connected to the three Illinois murders, Urdiales confessed to all eight murders and Asbenson’s assault.
“He’s proud of these murders,” said Gundy. “That’s why he confessed to them, because he’s proud of these things and he wants people to know.”
In trials in Chicago, Urdiales was found guilty and sentenced to death for Yulaki’s and Huber’s murders, but the Illinois governor then commuted all the state’s death penalties to sentences of life without parole.
A Livingston County jury then sentenced Urdiales to death for Corum’s murder.
Today, Urdiales is appealing his death sentence, arguing he was improperly tried and is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Prosecutors argue Urdiales could not have been insane and kept the jobs he had in the Marine Corps and civilian life at the times of the murders.
Gundy is content to let Illinois have Urdiales for now and confident when he is brought to California, he can be prosecuted successfully.
After all, two juries already accepted his guilt for the California murders during the penalty phases of his trials in Illinois.
And Gundy vows Urdiales will be held to answer for the five women’s deaths and Asbenson’s ordeal in California.
Said the prosecutor, “It’s not ‘if,’ it’s ‘when.’”
California waits to try serial killer
By Stacy Moore
Hi-Desert Star
Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 1:34 AM CDT
MORONGO BASIN — The serial killer who confessed to murdering two women while he was stationed at the Twentynine Palms Marine base and later kidnapping a 19-year-old from Joshua Tree will face trial in California, but not until he has exhausted his appeals in Illinois, where he sits on death row.
Howard Gundy, the senior deputy district attorney who is coordinating the case in California, said he does not want to give Andrew Urdiales a reprieve from the court system in Illinois, where he was convicted of killing three women.
An extradition to California now would play right into the confessed killer’s hands, Gundy said. After all, the only thing Urdiales has to look forward to in Illinois is death.
“Every day he’s in California is a day his appeal is stalled in Illinois,” said the prosecutor.
Gundy, who works for Orange County, recently discussed the Urdiales prosecution with district attorneys from San Diego and Riverside counties; the former Marine is wanted for killing a total of five women in all three jurisdictions.
“We agree at this point that Mr. Urdiales has a right to be in the state of Illinois,” Gundy said in a telephone interview Friday.
“What we are looking for is a window where we can bring Mr. Urdiales to California to stand trial that will not interrupt Illinois proceedings. That window will come,” Gundy said. “When, I don’t know, but that window will come.”
A trail of death across two states
Arrested in Illinois in 1997 after he called the police to complain a prostitute had stolen his money, Urdiales quickly confessed to eight murders, describing how he began killing women while a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton and the Twentynine Palms base.
Once discharged from the Marine Corps, he moved to Illinois and took a job as a security guard, enabling him to secure another gun for his murders.
He also took vacations to the Palm Springs area, where he kept a storage facility with weapons and mementos from his victims. He killed two more women and kidnapped a 19-year-old from Joshua Tree.
“This guy was unbelievable the manner in which he planned these kidnappings and murders,” said Chicago prosecutor Jim McKay in a telephone interview Monday.
Illinois documents prepared by McKay and others, based upon Uridales’ confessions, detail the actions of a man who told a court-appointed doctor he was excited by watching women suffer.
• January 1986: Robbin Brandley of Laguna Beach is stabbed 41 times in a parking lot at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. Urdiales will later tell police he saw her in the dark lot and spontaneously decided to kill her. Afterward, he returns to the Camp Pendleton Marine base where he is stationed.
• July 1988: Urdiales shoots Julie McGhee and leaves her body in a remote area of Cathedral City. He is stationed at the Twentynine Palms base at the time.
• September 1988: Urdiales shoots Mary Ann Wells in San Diego, then returns to the Twentynine Palms Marine base.
• April 1989: Urdiales picks up Tammy Erwin in Palm Springs, drives her into the remote desert and shoots her three times, using the same gun that killed McGhee and Wells.
• September 1992: After being discharged from the Marines and settling in Chicago, Urdiales takes an airplane to Southern California. In Palm Springs, he gives 19-year-old Jennifer Asbenson of Joshua Tree a ride from work. He restrains her, assaults her and puts her into the trunk of his rental car. She manages to free herself and run away.
http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=8244&pid=279492&st=0&#entry279492
Asbenson eventually will be the only one of Urdiales’ victims to survive to testify against him.
------------------------------------------------------
watch a riveting video interview with Jennifer Asbenson:
http://www.kpsplocal2.com/global/story.asp?s=10467649
-------------------------------------------------------
March 1995: On another vacation to California, Urdiales sees Denise Maney on a Palm Springs street. He drives her to deserted area, ties her up, assaults her and then shoots her.
• April 1996: Urdiales drives Laura Uylaki to Wolf Lake on the Indiana-Chicago border, where he shoots her and throws her body into the water.
• July 1996: Urdiales picks up Cassandra Corum in Livingston County, Ill., restrains her and kills her at the Vermillion River.
• August 1996: Urdiales takes Lynn Huber to Wolf Lake, where he shoots her three times and stabs her 28 times.
• April 1, 1997: Urdiales calls police claiming a prostitute stole a check from him. The woman describes for detectives Urdiales had handcuffed her and duct-taped her wrists and wanted to drive her to Wolf Lake. Recognizing the characteristics of the unsolved murders of Uylaki, Huber and Corum, detectives arrest Urdiales.
‘He’s proud of these murders’
Once he was connected to the three Illinois murders, Urdiales confessed to all eight murders and Asbenson’s assault.
“He’s proud of these murders,” said Gundy. “That’s why he confessed to them, because he’s proud of these things and he wants people to know.”
In trials in Chicago, Urdiales was found guilty and sentenced to death for Yulaki’s and Huber’s murders, but the Illinois governor then commuted all the state’s death penalties to sentences of life without parole.
A Livingston County jury then sentenced Urdiales to death for Corum’s murder.
Today, Urdiales is appealing his death sentence, arguing he was improperly tried and is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Prosecutors argue Urdiales could not have been insane and kept the jobs he had in the Marine Corps and civilian life at the times of the murders.
Gundy is content to let Illinois have Urdiales for now and confident when he is brought to California, he can be prosecuted successfully.
After all, two juries already accepted his guilt for the California murders during the penalty phases of his trials in Illinois.
And Gundy vows Urdiales will be held to answer for the five women’s deaths and Asbenson’s ordeal in California.
Said the prosecutor, “It’s not ‘if,’ it’s ‘when.’”