the Region - News from April 11, 1985

A Palos Verdes Peninsula man was convicted of having paid a teen-ager $1,500 to murder the husband of his married girlfriend. A Torrance Superior Court jury found George Lucev, 24, guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances in the Jan. 21, 1983, fatal stabbing of Vladimir Jelenic, 44. The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin April 23, and Deputy Dist. Attys. Ray Saukkola and Richard Elias said they will seek the death penalty. Jelenic’s widow, Donna, 40, also was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances a year ago and was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The high school dropout they hired to murder Jelenic, Michael Pena, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case and testified against both of them.