The State : Killer Gets Death Penalty
A former Cal State Chico football player was sentenced to death for the torture murders of a couple during a 1987 robbery. Steven Crittenden, 21, had been convicted by a jury in Auburn of murdering Dr. William Chiappella, 68, and his wife, Katherine, 67, who were bound and gagged, then stabbed and beaten in their Chico home. Placer County Superior Court Judge James Garbolino accepted the jury’s recommendation that Crittenden be put to death, despite defense attorney Don Blake’s contention that only one person had received the death penalty in six neighboring counties in recent years.
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