Ex-Sailor Sentenced in Strangling

A former sailor who strangled a man so that he could steal his Mustang convertible was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in state prison.

Shane Goddard, 20, also was fined $10,000 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Allan Preckel for killing Valentine Estrada, 26, of National City.

The parents, sisters and brothers of the victim, and Goddard himself, wept often during the one-hour sentencing.

Goddard pleaded guilty Feb. 18 to first-degree murder, and the district attorney’s office dropped special circumstances allegations that could have brought him a life term without parole.

Estrada disappeared March 25, and his body was found four days later in an Alpine canyon. He had been strangled with an electrical cord.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon Davis said Goddard killed Estrada so that he could get his 1989 Mustang convertible and drive to his parents’ home in Seattle after the Navy discharged him on several violations. Goddard was arrested April 3 in Seattle, with Estrada’s car and wristwatch in his possession.