Man Denied Parole for ’79 Triple Murder

An Oak View man sentenced to life in prison for a triple murder in 1979 was denied the possibility of parole for the fourth time Thursday after a hearing by the Board of Prison Terms, officials said.

Michael Lindley, who turned 45 Thursday, was denied parole after a brief hearing in Sacramento, said Liz Tanaka of the Board of Prison Terms.

Lindley pleaded guilty in 1980 to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of voluntary manslaughter after the 1979 killing of three people when a drug deal went sour, said Terri Knight, information officer at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.

The three victims--Robert Watkins, 26, and John Gibson, 25, of Long Beach; and Marvin Johnson, 27, of Compton--traveled to Ventura County to buy 25 pounds of marijuana from Lindley and two others, but were gunned down and had their money stolen before the transaction was completed, Knight said.

Lindley, who was committed to the state Department of Corrections in December, 1980, was not the gunman, Knight said.

In a separate hearing scheduled for Thursday, another man serving a life term had his parole hearing delayed indefinitely after his attorney failed to show up, Tanaka said. The man is in prison for an Oxnard kidnaping and assault with intent to commit murder and robbery.

Joe Ray Gonzales, 34, was convicted of those charges after shooting David Pizano in Oxnard while attempting to steal a car Pizano was traveling in, Tanaka said. Gonzales has been denied parole at four other hearings, according to Tanaka.

Both Lindley and Gonzales are housed at the California Men’s Colony north of San Luis Obispo.