Man, 18, Sentenced to Life in Prison for Zuma Beach Killing

Guillermo Bustos has spent his 17th and 18th birthdays in jail since he was charged with killing a Northridge woman at Zuma Beach in 1991. Now he faces spending all the rest of them behind bars too.

On Monday, despite emotional pleas from the New Mexico teen-ager’s family, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge David Perez sentenced Bustos to serve the remainder of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Jacqueline Kirkham, 43.

Perez found Bustos, who will be transferred to the men’s prison at Chino, guilty of murder, robbery and two special circumstances. A co-defendant, Michael Loretto, 18, was found guilty of murder and robbery last month and is scheduled to be sentenced today by Perez.

Because of his age at the time of the murder, Bustos was ineligible for the death penalty.

Kirkham was killed May 28, 1991, in a women’s restroom at the Malibu beach after she spent the day sunning herself, according to testimony in Bustos’ trial in October.

Bustos wanted her car so he and two other youths could return home to Pojoaque, N.M., where they were arrested.

Perez said aggravating circumstances of using a deadly weapon and the severity of the two stab wounds Bustos inflicted upon Kirkham “clearly outweigh” the fact that Bustos was only 16 when the crime occurred and that he had no previous record of violent conduct.

In asking Perez to impose the maximum penalty of life in prison without parole, Deputy Dist. Atty. Harvey Giss said previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings indicate “the theory that prison rehabilitates is balderdash.”

“The paramount concern in sentencing is protection of society,” Giss said.

“The victim of a homicide becomes nothing but a statistic,” he said. “An empty chair and only a mouthful of words from a prosecutor” remain to tell the victim’s story.

“Consider the loneliness she went through in the last minutes of her life confronted by strangers in the women’s restroom,” Giss said. “The hurt in this case is horrible.”

One of Kirkham’s two daughters and her ex-husband also asked Perez for the maximum penalty.

“She was a great mother and a kindhearted person who was more like a sister to me,” said Natahlie O’Donnell, 25.

O’Donnell, the mother of three children, including a daughter who was born after Kirkham died, said, “When my children get older, I’ll have to explain what happened to their grandmother. . . . I don’t know how I’ll do that.”

John Kirkham, who was married to the victim for 18 years before their divorce, said she was “the victim of a horrible crime, but the real victims are my daughters.”

“It is absolutely devastating to think someone can take a human life like that,” he said.

Another daughter, Chantel, 17, also was in court, along with two other family members.

Bustos’ parents, brother, sister and an aunt issued tearful pleas to Perez to show leniency in his sentencing, as well as expressing their sorrow to the victim’s family.

“My prayers have been with the victim since this homicide happened,” Martin Bustos, 44, said. “I feel my son can be rehabilitated and become a good and productive citizen if not given the maximum penalty.”

Bustos’ mother, Arlene, said: “Guillermo’s being away from us has hurt me so much. Guillermo and I can talk to each other and he has expressed to me many times how sorry he is for what he has done to two families and his own life.

“I beg this court for leniency for my son to come home just one day, just one day, just one day,” she said.

After his siblings and aunt made their tearful statements, Bustos stood to speak. Other than two taped confessions played during his trial, it was the first time he addressed the court since his arrest.

“I realize what I did was wrong,” he said slowly, “and I personally want to apologize to this family. She’ll never come home again. I ask for you to forgive me.

“It hurts me very much to see my family come up here. I’m willing to pay for my mistakes,” Bustos said. “It would be nice to know I could come home someday--30 years, 40 years, 20 years from now--and start a new life.”