The Region - News from April 4, 1986

The murder conviction of 20-year-old Gabriel Deluca for bludgeoning and stabbing to death a woman letter carrier in Huntington Beach was upheld by the 4th District State Court of Appeal. A jury’s 1984 guilty verdict had been set aside by Santa Ana Superior Court Judge Leonard H. McBride on grounds that the prosecution failed to share with defense attorneys a police report on Deluca’s behavior after his arrest. The appeals court said the report was not significant enough to change the verdict. Deluca was arrested the day after the partially clad body of Ida Jean Haxton was found in her mail car in a Costa Mesa church parking lot on Jan. 3, 1984.