First-Degree Murder, but No Death Penalty : Jury Convicts Pair Who Killed Man for His Car

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury Monday found two Utah men guilty of first-degree murder for killing a North Hollywood deliveryman with a rifle in a Glendale ravine after they stole his car.

Clayton LeFevere and Dennis Rollins, both 18, showed no emotion as the court clerk read the verdict finding them guilty of murdering Gary Schulman, 39. They also were found guilty of robbery, kidnaping for robbery, and auto theft.

They face 27 years to life in prison. Since both were minors, 17 years old, at the time of the slaying, they cannot be sentenced to death.

The jury deliberated one day.

“There is no question about their guilt,” said Judge Richard G. Kolostian.

LeFevere and Rollins ran away from their homes in Circleville, Utah, in a stolen pickup truck last summer, shortly after they graduated from high school, and came to a North Hollywood apartment where LeFevere’s divorced mother lived. Schulman, a meat-delivery driver, lived in the same development.

During the trial, which began July 15, Rollins testified that he and LeFevere, thinking Utah authorities were coming to California to arrest them for theft of the truck, wanted to escape in another vehicle. They approached Schulman at gunpoint in the apartment project, tied his hands behind his back and took him to a hilly area of Glendale in his own car.

Rollins said LeFevere stayed in the car while he took Schulman away. Rollins testified that he fired the murder weapon, a .22-caliber rifle stolen in Utah, but that he intended only to scare Schulman, who was trying to run away.

Schulman was shot four times.

Following the shooting, Rollins and LeFevere fled to Idaho in Schulman’s car, set it afire and abandoned it. They were arrested Aug. 25 and extradited to Utah to face auto-theft charges. After Schulman’s body was discovered in a ravine on Sept. 5, the two were extradited to California to face murder charges.

Because the murder took place during a joint robbery, both Rollins and LeFevere were charged with first-degree murder, even though Rollins testified that only he fired the rifle.

“The evidence showed that Gary Schulman died because he had a vehicle--and for no other reason,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward G. Feldman said. “Rollins and LeFevere acted together, even though only one of them pulled the rifle’s trigger.”

But Martin R. Gladstein, Rollins’ attorney, said Rollins and LeFevere never intended to kill Schulman.

“They were a couple of scared kids,” Gladstein said. “They came up with a harebrained scheme to steal Gary Schulman’s car. They didn’t want to hurt anybody. All they wanted was a car.”

Kolostian set Sept. 4 for sentencing.