SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Third Sister Convicted in Killing of Woman, 62
The oldest of three teen-age sisters accused of killing a neighbor at a Northridge condominium complex was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder, closing a case whose brutality and senselessness shocked the upscale West San Fernando Valley community.
The 17-year-old girl was convicted for her role in what Sylmar Juvenile Court Judge Morton Rochman called a “heinous killing,” the Nov. 20, 1991, slaying of 62-year-old Meta Murphy, a librarian who had befriended the three girls. According to trial testimony, the sisters conspired to kill her and then bragged about it to friends.
Testimony indicated the two younger sisters--now 13 and 16--sneaked into Murphy’s apartment and stabbed her 11 times, then dumped her body in a utility closet and covered it with coats. The eldest sister remained at home next door, where she turned up the volume on two stereos to drown out Murphy’s screams.
A motive for the crime remains unclear. With the verdict Wednesday, all three sisters have been convicted.
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