Life Term Urged for Killer of 4
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury recommended today that a man convicted of murdering four elderly women and suspected in more than a score of similar slayings be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The panel took only about an hour to decide that Brandon Tholmer, 29, should be spared the gas chamber. Jurors said the defendant’s unhappy childhood influenced their decision. Tholmer, who was once committed to Patton State Hospital as a mentally disordered sex offender, committed the murders between 1981 and 1983. His sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 8.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
