Killer Must Serve at Least 40 Years, Judge Rules

A 30-year-old man, already serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a woman in 1987 for the keys to her car, will first have to complete a 15-years-to-life sentence for the 1982 killing of an infant, a Superior Court judge ruled Monday.

Daniel Hikes was convicted Nov. 30 of second-degree murder for beating to death 11-month-old Jillian LeAnn Fine, the daughter of his live-in girlfriend. As a result of Monday’s ruling, Hikes will have to serve a minimum of 40 years in prison before he can be released, prosecutors said.

Hikes had been left alone with the child in the Anaheim apartment he shared with the girl’s mother. He told police the baby had fallen into the bathtub, but prosecutors charged that he had beaten the child before and, on this occasion, battered her so severely with his fists that he caused bleeding in her spinal column.

Initially, Hikes was charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torturing the child, which meant he could have received the death penalty. However, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard King dropped the special circumstance in the infant’s death in order to avoid the possibility of having Hikes’ 7-year-old son testify. The boy, who has since been adopted by another couple, lived with Hikes, his girlfriend and the infant at the time of the killing.

Hikes then had a non-jury trial before Judge Everett W. Dickey, who found him guilty of second-degree murder. Dickey ruled Monday that Hikes would have to serve the second-degree murder sentence--probably at least 10 years--before the clock resumes on his earlier, first-degree murder conviction.

In 1988, Hikes and a co-defendant, Duke K. Bolter, were convicted by a jury of bludgeoning to death 29-year-old Patricia Ann Clayton for the keys to her sports car.

Hikes, who has a lengthy police record, also faced the possibility of the death sentence in the Clayton killing, but a judge dropped a special circumstance allegation in that case after receiving information from a juror with misgivings about her vote. The two men were sentenced to life without parole, which means they must serve a minimum of 30 years before a governor can consider releasing them.