CARLSBAD : D.A. Seeks Life Term for Doctor
The district attorney’s office announced Thursday that it would seek special circumstances--but not the death penalty--against a doctor accused of murdering his girlfriend with chloroform.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Tim Casserly said the special circumstances are alleged to be murder in the commission of a rape. If the suspect, Dr. Sam Dubria, is found guilty of killing Jennifer Klapper, the crime automatically is placed as first-degree murder because she was first raped.
The district attorney’s office says it wants Dubria sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.
Dubria, 28, is charged with the using chloroform to knock out 20-year-old traveling companion Klapper at a Carlsbad motel last August so he could rape her. The woman never regained consciousness.
Dubria is being held in the County Jail in Vista on $1-million bail. His arraignment in Vista Superior Court on Thursday was continued to April 17.
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