32 Years to Life in Officer’s Murder
A participant in a 1988 armed robbery in which an Inglewood police officer was slain was sentenced Tuesday in Torrance Superior Court to 32 years to life in state prison.
Joevone Elster, 24, described by prosecutors as the mastermind of a bungled gas station holdup, was one of three men and a youth convicted of murder and armed robbery for the crime. Police say the fifth participant, who shot Sgt. George Aguilar during the getaway, committed suicide after a 45-mile chase the night of the robbery.
Aguilar, a 15-year veteran who worked as an undercover narcotics officer, is the only Inglewood police officer to be murdered in the line of duty in the department’s 81-year history.
Still facing sentencing by Judge John P. Shook are Van Otis Wilson, convicted of first-degree murder, and Patrick Anthony Carr, convicted of second-degree murder. A 15-year-old defendant was sentenced to the California Youth Authority until he is 25.
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