Schoolmate to Face Charges in Girl’s Death
A 17-year-old high school wrestler will be charged with the rape and murder of a schoolmate, according to San Benito County Dist. Atty. Harry Damkar.
He announced Friday that the teen-ager, whom he did not name, will be charged with the July 26 kidnaping, rape, robbery and first-degree murder of 16-year-old Lisa Koehler.
Damkar said the suspect abducted Koehler outside a market where she worked, beat her about the head, stripped and raped her before dumping her on a rural road--then ran her over with her van, which he had stolen.
Damkar said he will ask that the suspect be tried as an adult, which would mean he could face life in prison without parole if convicted. The death penalty is ruled out because he is under 18.
This small farming community about 60 miles southeast of San Francisco has been rocked by the murder and by the earlier slaying of 22-year-old college student Martha De La Rosa.
Police earlier arrested a 41-year-old man in the De La Rosa killing but released him after 10 weeks and declared him cleared of the crime. The man, a probation counselor at a Santa Clara County boys’ camp, was in jail at the time of Lisa Koehler’s death.
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