Kidnaping, Murder Charges Filed in Death of Student, 19
Kidnaping and murder charges were filed Tuesday in Orange County Municipal Court against transients James Gregory Marlow, 30, and Cynthia Lynn Coffman, 24, in the strangulation killing of 19-year-old college student Lynel Murray of Huntington Beach.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Toohey said he will seek the death penalty because the Nov. 12 slaying occurred in the course of burglary, robbery, rape and kidnaping. Marlow and Coffman are being held without bail in San Bernardino County Jail pending a preliminary hearing on charges in the kidnaping and murder of insurance clerk Corrina D. Novis, 20, of Redlands, abducted on Nov. 7, Toohey said.
“There was a kidnap in both cases, a robbery in both cases, strangulation in both cases,” Toohey said. Two days after Miss Murray’s bound body was found in a Huntington Beach motel, Coffman and Marlow were arrested near Big Bear Lake.
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