Beeler Convicted of 1st-Degree Murder

After deliberating less than two hours, a Superior Court jury Tuesday convicted Rodney Beeler, 36, of first-degree murder for shooting a man who surprised him as Beeler burglarized the man’s house in Orange.

The jurors will return to court next Tuesday to decide whether Beeler should receive a death sentence.

Beeler’s history of burglary convictions will be brought out then. Prosecutors also intend to put on the witness stand a 52-year-old woman who claims that Beeler raped her six months before the Orange murder.

Beeler, who is from Santa Ana, was arrested for the Dec. 30, 1985, slaying of Anthony Stevenson, 23, after he told his boss at a circuit-board manufacturing company about the murder. And he asked co-workers: “If you were committing a burglary and the owner came home and caught you, would you shoot him?”

Prosecutors presented evidence that Beeler stole jewelry and money from Stevenson’s home. Then, according to Beeler’s own statements to one prosecution witness, Beeler saw Stevenson coming and shot him. The victim was shot in the back.

Prosecutors and investigators were unaware of the rape claim until after Beeler’s arrest. During interviews with his co-workers, they learned that Beeler had boasted about having sex with a woman he robbed on the street.

Those claims led to interviews with a 52-year-old woman who identified Beeler as the attacker.

Beeler did not testify at his trial. Beginning Tuesday, jurors will have only one issue to decide: Whether to return a death verdict against Beeler, or a lesser verdict of life in prison without parole.