Chula Vista

A jury deliberated two hours Wednesday before finding that a Chula Vista man was sane in 1982 when he killed three people during a four-hour shooting spree.

Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Duffy set a May 22 sentencing for Alys Edmund McNair, now 62, who pleaded guilty in 1983 to three counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison.

An appellate court overturned the sentence last year, however, ruling that McNair hadn’t waived his right to a sanity trial when he entered those pleas.

The conviction was not affected by the ruling. McNair’s sanity at the time of the Feb. 17, 1982, incident was the only issue considered by the jury.

McNair’s attorney, Thomas Senter, contended his client was suffering from a brain dysfunction before the shooting at a Chula Vista mobile home park that left Gloria DeCastro, 62; her son, Cesar Escutia, 36; and Monique Gerard, 23, dead and one sheriff’s deputy wounded.

Senter said McNair’s condition was caused by his abuse of prescription drugs for a heart condition and other ailments. Deputy District Attorney Howard Shore told jurors that McNair was an angry man who took his frustrations out on his neighbors.

McNair will undergo psychiatric and physical examinations before Duffy imposes a sentence, which Shore said probably will be similar to the original 45 years to life term imposed by Judge Michael I. Greer.