No-Parole Life Sentence Rejected in Beating Death

An Orange County Superior Court judge Friday sentenced a young convicted killer to 25 years to life, saying the evidence didn’t warrant the jury’s recommendation of life without parole.

Last November, jurors took just 70 minutes to return a verdict that Charles E. Burke, now 23, was guilty of first-degree murder in the Aug. 11, 1985, slaying of Greg McGowan, who was beaten to death in a Laguna Hills field. The jury also found Burke guilty of attempted robbery and found a special circumstance in the murder--which automatically elevated Burke’s penalty to life without parole.

But Judge Donald A. McCartin, in a decision rare in county homicide cases, dismissed the jury’s special-circumstance finding. He said the evidence was not strong enough to prove that the attempted robbery was the primary motive for the killing--the special circumstance.

The decision means that Burke will be eligible for parole in his mid-30s. Only a governor’s commutation can interrupt a sentence of life without parole.

‘Scratching Their Heads’

“A lot of people left that courtroom scratching their heads,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward R. Munoz said. “The defendant made it clear his purpose was to rob the defendant. I don’t understand it.”

It was a case that might never have been solved without the aid of Burke’s former girlfriend, Rebecca Mae Potter.

On Aug. 11, 1985, Burke was meeting friends in a Denny’s restaurant in El Toro, where Potter was a waitress. She and the friends heard Burke make disparaging remarks about McGowan, a customer across the room. Burke asked his friends whether they wanted to help him “roll” McGowan.

A few hours later, Burke returned to the restaurant, according to court records, and told Potter that he had killed McGowan.

McGowan’s body was found in the field, his head so badly bashed in by two concrete slabs found nearby with blood on them that he had to be identified through fingerprints. For months, Sheriff’s Department investigators had no suspects. Then Potter came forward to tell police that Burke had again told her that he was the killer.

‘I Just Freaked Out’ on LSD

In a probation report, Burke said that he was high on LSD at the time and that McGowan “upset me real bad.” Burke said, “I just freaked out and couldn’t control my mind.”

But Burke also said he had abandoned plans to rob McGowan before they reached Laguna Hills.

McGowan’s family members left the courtroom Friday upset with McCartin’s decision. McGowan’s parents, Norman and Angela McGowan, told probation officials that they were already upset with the district attorney’s office because it had not sought the death penalty.

Munoz said his office decided against seeking the death penalty because of Burke’s lack of a criminal record and his youth.

“But we did feel life without parole was the appropriate sentence,” Munoz said.

McCartin was appointed Friday as the trial judge in the Randy Steven Kraft murder trial, where the defendant is charged with 16 murders. Prosecutors were pleased with the appointment, praising McCartin’s fairness.

Munoz said McCartin may have thought that life without parole was too stiff a sentence. The judge cited the jury’s quick verdict and said it was possible that the jurors did not understand the gravity of making a finding of special circumstances.