Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Killings of 2 Women

An Escondido man charged in the killing of two women in East County pleaded not guilty Friday in San Diego Municipal Court.

Ronald Porter, 44, appeared before Judge Joan Weber, who refused to set bail.

Porter is charged in the deaths of Carol Gushrowski, 26, an El Cajon mother of two whose body was found July 22, 1986, on Old Highway 80 in the Buckman Springs area of East County and Sandra Cwik, 43, whose body was discovered July 21, 1988, on Sheepshead Mountain Road in the same general area.

Porter is the second murder suspect charged in the long investigation by the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force in the mysterious deaths of 43 women--mostly prostitutes--since 1985.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Dusek disclosed that Cwik bled to death after she was raped with a foreign object. He said the object used to rape Cwik was not found, and they have no idea what caused the severe cuts.

Dusek said authorities could not determine a cause of death for Gushrowski. Her body was identified last July through dental records, even though she had been reported missing five years ago.

Porter is also charged with the attempted murder of five other women, who Dusek said were choked but survived.

Dusek argued against any bail, citing Porter’s previous criminal history.

In 1975, he pleaded guilty to kidnaping a 16-year-old boy and forcing him to perform oral copulation, said Dusek.

Porter was found to be a mentally disturbed sex offender and spent 1 1/2 years at a state mental hospital. He served two years of a four-year prison term following the 1988 sexual battery upon a woman in the Buckman Springs area.

A preliminary hearing will be set at an Oct. 25 status conference.

Dusek said the case is “a potential capital case” in that multiple murders were committed, which are grounds for filing special circumstances allegations. However, no decision has been made about filing such allegations, which could lead to Porter facing the death penalty, Dusek said.

Porter, who was brought into court wearing handcuffs and in blue jail clothes, said nothing except to tell the judge he was not guilty of the crimes.