The Region - News from Aug. 2, 1987
A Torrance Superior Court jury has recommended the death penalty for a 45-year-old Cuban national convicted of the 1980 murder of a Brinks guard at the Del Amo Fashion Square shopping mall. Jose Leon Fuentes’ original death sentence was reversed in 1985 by the state Supreme Court stemming from questions concerning Fuentes’ intent to kill the guard. The new jury reached its decision after a two-month penalty phase trial. Fuentes and an unidentified accomplice shot guard Paul Martinez three times after he picked up $85,000 at the Ohrbach’s store in the mall, authorities charged. Fuentes was wounded in the gun battle.
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