No-Contest Plea in Tujunga Slaying
A Tujunga man pleaded no contest Friday to a charge of second-degree murder in the 1984 slaying of his common-law wife, whose remains were found earlier this year in a remote desert area east of Palmdale.
Kenneth Allen Roberts, 45, was accused of shooting Annette Lillian Thom, 43, and burying her body near Pearblossom on Aug. 3, 1984. Thom’s remains were discovered by a hunter in February.
Roberts faces a sentence of 17 years to life, Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosalie Morton said. San Fernando Superior Court Judge Robert D. Fratianne will sentence Roberts on Aug. 8.
Roberts’ brother, James William Yuill, 39, of Tujunga, pleaded guilty before a different judge Friday to being an accessory after the fact in the murder and to receiving stolen property. Yuill was accused of hiding the .22-caliber rifle used by Roberts in the shooting, then accepting the use of Thom’s car, Morton said.
Yuill, who had agreed to testify against his brother, will be sentenced Aug. 6 by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab.
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