The State : Woman Gets Life in Slaying

Convicted murderer Laura Troiani was spared from the gas chamber by a San Diego County Superior Court jury that decided she should spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole for plotting the 1984 ambush murder of her Marine husband. The panel deliberated less than two days before delivering the binding recommendation to Judge Gilbert Nares. The judge could have rejected a death penalty recommendation but must abide by the jurors’ decision on the lesser sentence. The same jury convicted Troiani of first-degree murder and conspiracy, along with special circumstances of lying in wait and murder for financial gain. Prosecutors said Troiani, 26, hired five former Marines to shoot and kill her husband, Carlo, 37, a staff sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton. He was gunned down on a deserted road near the base on Aug. 9, 1984, as part of a scheme to collect his life insurance policies.