Chula Vista

Alys McNair was again sentenced Thursday to 45 years to life in prison for the 1982 sniper slayings of three people in a Chula Vista trailer park.

A sanity trial April 9 had found McNair, 61, to be sane at the time of the shootings. McNair pleaded guilty in 1983 to three counts of second-degree murder but an appellate court ruled last year the sanity issue was left unresolved.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas Duffy gave McNair the same sentence another judge had given him in 1983, ordering that the three 15-year terms run consecutively.

The Feb. 17, 1982, shootings were sparked by McNair’s anger over his neighbor’s barking dogs. He shot and killed the neighbor, Gloria DeCastro, 62; her son, Cesar Escutia, 36, and Monique Gerard, 23, who was driving past the scene of the shooting.

Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Brown, 34, was shot in the neck during a four-hour standoff at McNair’s trailer in the Mountain View Mobile Lodge.

When Duffy asked if there was any cause to delay sentencing, McNair said, “I didn’t have proper counsel.” McNair has repeatedly tried to fire attorney Robert Bourne, who has represented him since 1982.

Bourne said McNair was taking pain medication for his back, heart medicines, and an anti-depressant at the time of the shootings. After arriving at Folsom State Prison, McNair passed out, and doctors learned that he had diabetes.