Ex-Marine, Last of 6 Defendants in Troiani Case, Found Not Guilty

A former Camp Pendleton Marine private was found not guilty Friday in the murder-for-hire death of Marine Sgt. Carlo Troiani and was immediately freed after more than four years in custody since the 1984 crime.

A Ventura County jury acquitted 23-year-old Kevin Watkins on all charges in the Aug. 10, 1984, slaying after five days of deliberations. Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester ordered Watkins released.

Watkins was the last of six defendants to be tried in the slaying. The five others--the dead Marine’s wife, Laura, and four former Marines--are serving prison terms for their roles in the murder plot.

Watkins’ trial was moved to Ventura County from Vista after Laura Troiani was found guilty of first-degree murder and the four other Marines pleaded guilty to similar charges. Jurors in an earlier trial were unable to agree on Watkins’ guilt or innocence, and the trial ended in a hung jury.

Only One to Maintain Innocence

Watkins was the only one of the five Marines charged to maintain that he was innocent of involvement in the plot devised by Laura Troiani to murder her husband and collect his $95,000 life-insurance policy. Watkins testified that he was an unwitting partner to the plot and was forced at gunpoint to participate.

According to trial testimony, Laura Troiani was to have paid the five men $500 each for aiding her in killing her husband. Carlo Troiani was lured to an isolated spot near the Camp Pendleton back gate on the pretext that his wife’s car had broken down. He was then shot to death. Watkins was not at the murder site but admitted that he was forced to participate in an earlier murder attempt against Troiani’s husband.

Lester said the case was “well tried by both sides, and I complimented both Mr. Walden (Philip Walden, San Diego County deputy district attorney) and Mr. Patton (C. Bradley Patton, defense attorney) on this in open court.”

Lester called the jury verdict exonerating Watkins of all charges “well within the range of the evidence.” He added that the verdict “could have gone either way.”

Release Was Automatic

Watkins’ release was automatic, Lester said.

San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller expressed disappointment with the verdict and pointed out the difficulty of trying a murder case four years after the crime.

“Phil Walden gave the jury everything we had,” Miller said. “It was the jury’s prerogative to reject testimony of (the prosecution’s) prime witness.”

Laura Troiani was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. The confessed triggerman, Mark Schulz, pleaded guilty in an agreement that guaranteed he would not receive the death penalty. He also received life without possibility of parole.

Three other former Marines implicated in the killing--Jeffrey T. Mizner, Russell A. Harrison and Russell E. Sanders--were sentenced to prison terms of 25 years to life.