Man Sentenced To Life Without Parole For Third Time In Killing Of LAPD Officer
The man thrice convicted of killing of a Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer in a brutal 1983 Lake View Terrace shooting was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Monday, Nov. 27. Kenneth Earl Gay, 65, and a co-defendant were convicted of killing Officer Paul Verna with a flurry of gunshots following a traffic stop on Hoyt Street all those years ago. Once again, after his latest trial and sentencing, Gay faced Verna’s family to hear how his actions that day shattered their lives forever. Again, he sat quietly as he listened to Verna’s widow and two sons tell him they’ll never stop seeking justice. Gay did not speak during the sentencing hearing. After so many years, it was clear how long Verna’s family and Gay have had to contend with each other: From his original criminal trial just over four decades ago, to seeing Gay’s case dismissed twice and the retrials that followed, both sides have now tangled in court for longer than Verna, killed at 35 years old, ever spent alive. “You were a coward then and you remain a coward today,” said Sandy Jackson, Verna’s widow, directly to Gay while giving a victim impact statement. “I’ve had to deal with you yelling at me in court,” Jackson said, again addressing Gay. “You have called me a thorn in your side.” Gay, behind bars since his arrest days after Verna’s killing on June 2, 1983, was sentenced Monday after a jury found him guilty in August of the murder and of a special circumstance allegation that he killed a police officer in the line of duty.
The Whittier Daily News, Calif.
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