Killer Sentenced to 17 Years to Life in Prison
A man who admitted killing a Woodland Hills sex-video producer was sentenced Wednesday to 17 years to life in prison as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.
Victor Diaz, 47, admitted in San Fernando Superior Court last month that he fired the shots that killed pornographer Theodore J. Snyder on a Northridge street Aug. 1, 1989. He testified for the prosecution in the first-degree murder trial of the dead man’s widow, Sharon Snyder, 41.
Snyder was accused of hiring Diaz to kill her husband but was acquitted by a jury Aug. 30.
Diaz said he killed Snyder at Sharon Snyder’s request because he loved her and she had promised to share her inheritance with him.
Several jurors said they did not believe Diaz’s testimony and concluded that he testified against Snyder to reduce his own sentence.
In return for Diaz’s testimony, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence E. Mason allowed Diaz to plead no contest--the legal equivalent of a guilty plea--to second-degree murder and also agreed to the terms of the sentence imposed Wednesday.
Without the plea bargain, Diaz could have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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