Local News in Brief : Man Changes Plea to Guilty in 1987 Slaying
A North Hollywood man, who had denied that he killed his former girlfriend, pleaded guilty Monday in Van Nuys Superior Court to the February, 1987, slaying.
Rudy Rocha also pleaded guilty to attempting to kill the brother of the woman’s new boyfriend.
Rocha, 28, had pleaded not guilty to both charges at his arraignment last April. He could have been sentenced to 39 years to life in prison had he been convicted during a trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said.
In exchange for Rocha’s pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of 22 years to life in state prison.
Judge David P. Yaffe ordered Rocha to appear April 11 for sentencing. He is being held in County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
At 3 a.m. Feb. 20, 1987, Rocha shot and killed his former girlfriend, Tami Carraher, 22, in her Van Nuys apartment, Cohen said. Robert Haro, 26, the brother of Carraher’s new boyfriend, also was shot, but recovered, he said.
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