Man Gets 10 Years for Bludgeoning Teen-Age Couple With a Hammer

A former mental patient who bludgeoned two teen-agers with a hammer was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison Wednesday by a San Fernando Superior Court judge who complained that state law does not allow harsher punishment.

Judge John P. Farrell gave Rodolfo Aguero the maximum sentence allowed under state law for two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter with the special allegations of great bodily injury.

With credit for time already served and for good behavior, Aguero, 36, of Granada Hills, could be released in less than five years.

Aguero was convicted last month of repeatedly hitting Kelly McClure, 19, and Jackson P. Utley, 18, over the head with a hammer as the teen-age sweethearts sat on a curb at the corner of Index Street and Montgomery Avenue, near Aguero’s house, July 8, 1988. Both are permanently disabled.

“I think the sentences are wholly inadequate for violent crimes,” Farrell said. “The sentencing scheme is far too low.”

California law sets minimum, mid-term and maximum penalties for all but murder and sex crimes. If a case involves multiple victims, however, the standards apply only to the first victim. Terms are greatly reduced for other victims. Aguero faced a maximum sentence of 8 1/2 years for the first victim and two years for the second.

“In this case, the second person is cheap,” Farrell said. He also complained that sentences are lower if a victim survives a violent attack. Farrell urged the victims’ families to complain to state legislators if they were dissatisfied.

Aguero, who has a history of paranoid schizophrenia, should serve his term at the state prison at Vacaville, which has a psychiatric department, Farrell said. Four days after the attack, Aguero told authorities that voices told him people were laughing at him and he should punish them. During court proceedings, however, he refused to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

In court Wednesday, Utley’s father, William Jackson Utley, pleaded for a stiff penalty. “Punishment and retribution are demanded,” he said. “A society that is too effete to exact that cannot last.”

Jackson Utley suffers memory loss and has virtually no feeling in his hands and legs. McClure still wears leg braces and cannot stand for long periods of time.

Nancy McClure, Kelly McClure’s mother, said the case demonstrates the danger of cutting funds for mental health programs.

“We would feel much better if we could be sure he would get help,” she said. “We were lucky. The kids are really coming along, and it could have been a lot worse. But what about other victims in the future?”

Deputy Public Defender Nelda K. Barrett told the court that Aguero, an immigrant from Nicaragua, does not have any recollection of the incident. She recommended he be sent to Vacaville.