Local News in Brief : Man Sentenced to Death
A man whose original death sentence was overturned by the state Supreme Court has been re-sentenced to death for killing a physician and a teacher at Torrance Airport in 1979.
Melvin Turner, 31, of Compton, was convicted of the robbery and execution-style murders of Dr. Joseph Hill, 35, of Harbor City, and Joella Champion, 44, of Torrance.
After Turner’s conviction and original death sentence were overturned, he was retried and convicted a second time. Last September, a second jury again recommended the death penalty.
Turner last Friday was formally sentenced to die in the gas chamber at San Quentin Prison by Superior Court Judge Douglas McKee.
Prosecutors said Turner shot both victims in the head with a .38-caliber pistol while they lay bound and gagged on the floor of a hangar at the Torrance Airport, where Champion was showing Hill her airplane.
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