Edhat StaffA Santa Maria jury found a Vietnam veteran guilty of murdering a 34-year-old Lompoc woman in 2014.
Clay Martin Burt Murray, 67, was convicted of First Degree Murder on Friday, and the jury also found the special circumstance true that he committed murder during the commission of kidnapping, and intentionally used a firearm in causing the death of Rebecca Yap on October 13, 2014. He faces a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
A home surveillance system at Murray’s Lompoc home caught an altercation where Murray was chasing Yap around his living room and repeatedly hitting her while she begged to be let go. Yap was found minutes later outside Murray’s home with a gunshot wound.
Defense attorneys stated that Murray defended himself after being stabbed with scissors, while prosecutors claimed Murray felt Yap had stolen from him and sought revenge.
Testimony during the trial depicted Murray and Yap as friends who often used drugs together until Murray suspected Yap was stealing from him. The surveillance video showed the two sitting in Murray’s bedroom when he took Yap’s phone away. She tried to get it back and he began hitting her repeatedly with a pool cue stick, reports to the Santa Maria Times.
Murray will be sentenced on May 23, 2018, in Department 8 of the Santa Maria Superior Court.
A veteran kills a woman and it’s purpose is a way of “painting veterans as murderers”? Where does that come from?! Actually, it’s “shameful and disgusting” to make that comment.
Actually were only allowed to condemn people of color, women, the homeless, liberals, the poor old handicapped, children, in this country any references to the supreme Bland people of thy blessed royal Hineynesses will be met with Verbal homicide by the right weiners of Murica….Amen
Two other publications had a similar title: “Lompoc veteran Clay Murray found guilty of murdering Rebecca Yap” – Lompoc Record AND Santa Maria Times.
Other headline options: “Majority of Women Killed By Men, Here’s Another” — “White Man Kills Woman of Color, Yet Again” — “Innocent Woman Killed by Man, Keeping Statistics High.” So many options.
The headline is just another disgraceful attack against veterans for purpose of painting veterans as murderers. Shameful, and disgusting.
The headline is descriptive of the murderer. “Another Straight White Man Kills a Woman” could also work, but then we’d have millions of other articles with the same title.
Exactly and typical.
This one made me laugh Roger. And you wrote a bunch of thruth in a few words.