The State : Killer Gets Death Penalty

David (Moochie) Welch was sentenced to death for the December, 1986, slayings of six people, including two children, in an east Oakland home. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stanley Golde chose to follow the jury’s recommendation of death. “There is no circumstance which extenuates the gravity of this crime,” said Golde in issuing the sentence. He added, “His entire life is a life of violence.” Welch, 31, was convicted on June 19 of six counts of murder stemming from the bloody, predawn shooting rampage that left his former girlfriend and five others dead. Welch had a long-running feud with the woman’s family. Golde cited Welch’s criminal history, which includes rape, sodomy, assault with a deadly weapon and assault and battery on various guards and jailers during previous jailings.