CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Execution Date Set for Killer of Child

An Orange County Superior Court judge has set Dec. 6 as the execution date for Theodore Frank, who tortured and murdered 2 1/2-year-old Amy Sue Seitz of Camarillo 13 years ago. Judge John J. Ryan issued the death warrant Friday morning, decreeing that Frank should be put to death in the gas chamber at San Quentin state prison for Amy Sue’s murder. “We got the execution date set, and what that means in a nutshell is that he’s a step closer to the execution,” said Ventura County Assistant Dist. Atty. Colleen (Toy) White. “But by no means do most of us think that will be the actual date, because he still has the federal appellate process to go through.” Frank, 56, was convicted in 1980 of kidnaping Amy Sue from her baby-sitter’s front yard on March 14, 1978. He forced beer down the little girl’s throat, then tortured and mutilated her with Vise-grips, raped her, strangled her and dumped her body in Topanga Canyon.