San Diego
A former General Dynamics executive was sentenced Friday to 11 years in state prison for shooting a pilot in the stomach in the flier’s Ramona home.
Nicholas Schulz, 33, of Mira Mesa, received the maximum term from San Diego Superior Court Judge J. Richard Haden. Schulz had pleaded no contest March 21 to attempted murder of John Kiracofe, 45, a PSA pilot, on Oct. 29, 1985.
Kiracofe testified that he answered the door after Schulz, pretending to be a delivery man, said he had a package for him. “He shot me, and he pursued me through my house, and I thought I was going to die,” Kiracofe said.
The dispute between the men apparently centered on Schulz’s dating Janice Vuich, the ex-wife of Kiracofe. She testified that Schulz once asked her whether she wanted him to ruin Kiracofe’s career.
Until his arrest, Schulz was the director of marketing in charge of Air Force projects at General Dynamics.
Schulz lost a motion last week when he attempted to withdraw his no-contest plea and go to trial. He claimed that his former attorney had misinformed about the maximum sentence he could face.
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