Anaheim Man Faces Possible Death Penalty in Wife-Killing

An Anaheim man who fled to Montana and then confessed to his wife’s slaying in a letter may face the death penalty.

In a complaint added Wednesday to the first-degree murder charge against David Lee Schoenecker, prosecutors allege that the 48-year-old chemical engineer plotted his wife’s death. Schoenecker is now accused of “lying in wait” to shoot his wife in the head at their Anaheim Hills home on May 5.

Municipal Judge Kazuharu Makino Wednesday ordered Schoenecker held in jail without bail until his June 13 arraignment, when he will enter a plea to the slaying of Gail Schoenecker, 40.

His attorney says Schoenecker will plead not guilty. The arraignment on Wednesday was continued to June 13 because the defense needs more time to consider the latest allegation, said Ronald Butler, a public defender.

“This takes it to the death penalty,” Butler said after the hearing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Melvin L. Jensen, who is prosecuting the case, said the “special circumstance” complaint against Schoenecker means that, if convicted, he may face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jensen declined to say what led prosecutors to file the new complaint.

Butler said that his client, Schoenecker, did not seem depressed about the latest developments in his case Wednesday.

“So far he’s OK,” Butler said. “The situation he’s in, he’s never been in before. It’s not a good experience.”

Schoenecker appeared only briefly at the Municipal Court in Fullerton.

In a letter postmarked early last month from Missoula, Mont., Schoenecker wrote to an Orange County Register newspaper columnist saying that he had killed his wife. He threatened in the letter to “punish” 54 relatives and acquaintances named in a list. Police then went to the home and found the body.

Schoenecker was captured days later by a posse of sheriff’s deputies in snowmobiles and a helicopter as he tried to escape through rugged mountains near Superior, Mont. He was brought back to Orange County May 16 after waiving extradition.