Life Term to Be Sought in Ramona Slaying

The district attorney’s office said Monday it will seek a life term without parole for the son of an elderly Ramona woman if he is convicted of murdering her.

Lorne Schultz, 47, pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed his mother, Mayme Schultz, 72, and stole her car.

Schultz is believed to have be been killed Dec. 29 after being struck with a blunt object while she asleep in home. Her body was reportedly put in the trunk of her car and dumped Jan. 13 off a rural highway near Oxford, Miss., by her son.

The two special-circumstances allegations filed Monday against Schultz state that he killed his mother during a robbery, and that she had been a witness to a crime and was slain to prevent her from testifying.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dave Greenberg said the son reportedly forged his mother’s signature on checks and stole a fur coat from her before the slaying. He said Mayme Schultz had filed a report with sheriff’s deputies about her losses and that she suspected her son. The prosecutor said Lorne Schultz had been previously prosecuted on forgery charges involving his mother’s checks and was convicted in 1967 of robbery.

Greenberg told Superior Court Judge Fred Link that his office will not seek the death penalty. “In this particular case, we think the appropriate penalty is life without parole,” Greenberg said afterward.

Schultz’s attorney, Victor Eriksen, asked for a trial in six months. He said he will be filing legal challenges to the special-circumstances allegations.

A trial has been set for Oct. 29.

Schultz remains in County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Schultz was arrested in Biloxi, Miss., on Jan. 28. He was driving his mother’s 1989 Chrysler. The district attorney says that, on his cross-country trek, Schultz used his mother’s credit cards and pawned some of her possessions.