Judge Imposes Death Sentence in Murder of 3 : Crime: Slayings of young former co-workers at auto parts store called ‘callous’ and ‘motiveless.’

Calling the killings “callous” and “motiveless,” a Superior Court Judge Friday condemned a 22-year-old man to death for the execution-style slayings of three former co-workers at a Tustin auto parts store.

In his sentencing, Judge Donald A. McCartin denounced Gregory Allan Sturm of Tustin as a self-indulgent person who thought nothing of ruthlessly killing three friends and then heading out for dinner.

“They trusted him; they let him into the store. . . . He had an ongoing relationship with them (and) he took advantage of their friendship, of their vulnerability,” McCartin said. “He’s ended their lives forever, and he had dinner and a movie” later that night.

Family members of the victims, as well as Sturm’s, wept as McCartin imposed the sentence.

“It’s just been a very long and difficult ordeal for the families,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum said afterward. “I’m just hopeful that in some small measure, that this eases the pain that they have suffered.”

Sturm’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender William G. Kelley, rushed out of court and could not be reached for comment Friday.

Sturm was convicted last June of three counts of first-degree murder in the August, 1990, killings of Chad Chadwick, 22, of Orange; Russel Williams, 21, of Seal Beach; and Darrell Esgar, 22, of Huntington Beach. He also was found guilty of committing the murders during a robbery and burglary which made him eligible for the death sentence.

During a taped confession following his arrest, Sturm told police that he robbed the auto shop for money to support his cocaine habit. He shot and killed the victims to get rid of potential witnesses and because he “did not want to go to jail,” he said.

He shot the men at close range in the head, Sturm confessed, even as they wept, prayed and begged for mercy.

Afterward, he picked up his girlfriend and went to dinner.

Prosecutors have called the murders “cold-blooded” and “despicable.” The defense has argued that Sturm came from a dysfunctional family, was physically abused by his stepfather and was a drug user who let his addiction control his life.

“From early on . . . he was made to feel and believe, as he does now, that he is a worthless human being,” Kelley told McCartin, in arguing for his client’s life. “Feeling twisted and worthless, he turned to drugs. . . . None of us will ever know what it is like to be twisted at such a young age.”

In a letter composed by relatives of the victims, Russel Williams’ mother, Melinda, asked McCartin to consider the loss she and others have experienced since the deaths.

Her voice quivered when she talked about the victims and hardened when she addressed Sturm, describing how the families felt “violated and robbed of our sons’ smiles and laughter.”

“All our lives came to a screeching halt that horrible day,” Williams said, trying to control her tears. “We think of how frightened they must have been, how they cried and begged for their lives. How long did they cry? How long did they beg? How long did Mr. Sturm taunt them with the gun with the prospect of death, we’ll never know.”

Melinda Williams stared unflinchingly at Sturm as she said his name. He only bowed his head.

After McCartin made his ruling, Sturm’s grandmother, Della Garrett, walked over to the victims’ families and said tearfully: “You don’t know what we’ve been through, but we forgive you.”

Outside of court, the victims’ families hugged each other and cried in relief while Sturm’s relatives held hands and wept in pain.

“We know how they’re hurting,” said Garrett, 72, of Garden Grove. “We’re hurting too. It’s hard for all of us.”

Chad Chadwick’s stepmother, Pat, said she sympathizes with Sturm’s family. “We realize that they’re suffering,” she said. “But he deserved what he got, and he put his family through the pain.”

In a probation report, prepared to help McCartin in his ruling, the victims’ families described their grief following the killings.

Melinda Williams told probation officers that she developed suicidal tendencies, had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. Russel Williams’ sister, Kate, had to seek counseling. His grandmother, Grace West, suffered continual heart problems.

Chad Chadwick’s father, Larry, could not concentrate on work and lost his job. His brother, who has a learning disability, wore his clothes and continued to sleep in his bed for months.

“It will be a long time, maybe never, before our lives can get back to normal again,” said Pat Chadwick, 49, of Tustin.

After Sturm’s conviction on the murder charges last year, jurors deadlocked 10 to 2 after 13 days of deliberations during the penalty phase of the trial in favor of a sentence of life without parole. They also took the unusual step of asking prosecutors not to retry the case, claiming that it would be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money and could not result in a death sentence.

Prosecutors empaneled a new jury for a second penalty phase. That jury, in November, took only two hours before returning the death sentence recommendation.

Prosecutors said they were able to present new evidence and witnesses to the second jury that had not been made available to them the first time.

Friday, Kelley spent the better part of two hours arguing for a new trial on the basis that, according to him, McCartin had denied Sturm’s right to a fair trial by being biased and prejudicial against the defense and by trying to rush the trial procedures.

Following a lengthy rebuttal to Kelley’s accusation, McCartin denied the motion.

The trial itself, which included the first and second penalty phase, was interrupted numerous times by frequent verbal sparrings between prosecutors and the defense attorney and by Kelley’s criticism of McCartin’s judicial decisions, according to court transcripts and those familiar with the case.