Aissa Wayne’s Attacker Gets 8 Years : Trial: Judge hands out maximum sentence to man who stunned court by admitting his involvement in the assault.

Jerrel Lee Hintergardt, who stunned even his own lawyer by admitting his involvement in the 1988 assault on John Wayne’s daughter and her boyfriend at the time, was sentenced today to eight years in state prison, the maximum possible term.

Hintergardt’s attorney told jurors last month that his client was at a Los Angeles hospital for an adjustment on his artificial foot when Aissa Wayne and financier Roger W. Luby were attacked the morning of Oct. 3, 1988, in the garage of Luby’s Newport Beach estate. But moments before he was scheduled to testify, Hintergardt, 38, told his attorney, Todd A. Landgren, that he had been lying to him; he was at the Luby estate that day.

At today’s sentencing, Luby made a victim impact statement to the court, but turned his comments directly to Hintergardt: “I was seriously injured; you will never know how much you have injured me.”

Prosecutors contend that Wayne’s ex-husband, Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, had ordered the attack during a bitter custody dispute over their 2-year-old daughter. Gionis, whose trial in the assault is scheduled for Aug. 28, is accused of hiring Los Angeles private investigator O. Daniel Gal, who in turn allegedly hired Hintergardt and another man, Jeffrey K. Bouey, to carry out the doctor’s wishes.

Wayne and Luby had just returned from a health club workout when two gunmen approached them as they got out of their car in Luby’s garage.

Wayne and Luby both testified that it was Hintergardt who beat up Luby and slashed his Achilles’ tendon with a knife, then smashed Wayne’s face several times into the concrete garage floor. Hintergardt admitted the Luby assault but blamed Wayne’s injuries on Bouey.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans asked Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan for the maximum sentence, telling the court that the “purely gratuitous” cutting on Luby’s heel was a vicious act that deserved the stiffest punishment.

Defense attorney Landgren had asked the judge to sentence Hintergardt to the mid-term of six years, based on Hintergardt’s lack of a prior criminal record.

Landgren said later, however, Ryan’s decision was no surprise.

“With the extent of the injuries to Mr. Luby, it’s certainly understandable how a judge could see this as an aggravated case,” Landgren said.

But the defense attorney said the sentence was harsh compared to what he predicted Bouey will receive. Gal and Bouey, who have cooperated with the authorities, have admitted their roles and are expected to enter guilty pleas. However, their cases will not likely be resolved until after the Gionis trial.

Bouey, who spent a year in the Orange County Jail before being freed on bail, testified at Hintergardt’s trial and substantiated fully Wayne’s and Luby’s testimony.