Anaheim : Sentencing Scheduled in ‘Bee Lady’ Killings

The last of three men charged in the 1983 murder of two elderly Anaheim women is scheduled for sentencing May 22.

Edward Barrios, 25, of Anaheim faces a possible 50 years to life in prison following his guilty plea to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree burglary.

Barrios changed his plea to guilty Wednesday just before standing trial for the murders of Elizabeth Schafer, 96, and her 69-year-old daughter, Alice, during a robbery.

Medical reports showed that the women died of asphyxiation after socks were stuffed in their mouths to keep them quiet, but the defendants claimed they had not intended to kill the two.

Schafer was known by neighbors as “the Bee Lady” because she sold honey from her own beehives at a roadside stand in front of her home.

Two other men, Oscar Torres and Jerry Ulloa, both now 18, are serving California Youth Authority sentences for their roles in the crime and will be free when they are 25.

Because Barrios was an adult at the time of the killings, he could have been sent to the gas chamber, but a state appeals court ruled the death penalty could not be applied because the killings were apparently unintentional.