Marine Convicted in Live-In Girlfriend’s Shooting Death
A Superior Court jury on Friday convicted a Camp Pendleton Marine on involuntary manslaughter in the 1991 shooting death of his live-in girlfriend.
Staff Sgt. Bernard Jenkins, 35, faces a maximum four-year prison sentence for the killing of Florain Butcher, 37, at the couple’s San Clemente home on Dec. 28. Jenkins’ sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 14.
On the night of the killing, Jenkins told an emergency dispatcher that his girlfriend had shot herself. When San Clemente police arrived at the house, Jenkins was leaning over Butcher’s body attempting to administer aid.
Under questioning by investigators, Jenkins said that he had been “playing around with the gun,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick Donahue. Butcher, who worked at the day-care center at Camp Pendleton Marine base, was found shot above the ear and holding a .38-caliber handgun in her right hand.
Donahue argued that Butcher could not have shot herself above the left ear and then transferred the gun to her other hand before dying. The defense argued that the fatal wound had been self-inflicted.
There was no signs of an altercation or struggle in the home. Donahue said he did not know the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
“There is no evidence that he intended to kill her,” Donahue said. “The jury believed he was grossly negligent.”
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