Man Guilty of Killing Ex-Girlfriend’s Father
A Sun Valley man was convicted Wednesday in the shooting death of a popular service station owner in 1987 during a dispute over the victim’s daughter.
Curtis Ray Morgan, 36, was convicted in San Fernando Superior Court of first-degree murder and burglary in the Aug. 20, 1987, killing of Raymond Dilger. Morgan could face up to 27 years to life in prison when sentenced March 5.
Dilger, 43, a former champion stock car racer and owner of Ray’s Chevron in Sun Valley, was known in the community for his volunteer work. Los Angeles police said he was shot to death in his home during a confrontation with Morgan, the former boyfriend of Dilger’s daughter. Police said Morgan blamed Dilger for the breakup of the relationship.
Morgan fled after the shooting and was arrested in St. Petersburg, Fla., after the television show “America’s Most Wanted” broadcast a report on the Dilger slaying. A woman in St. Petersburg who saw the show and recognized Morgan in a bar contacted authorities, and he was arrested.
The jury convicted Morgan after three days of deliberations at the end of a two-month trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. William Holliman said.
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