LONG BEACH : Youth Gets 15 Years to Life Term in ‘Ace of Spades’ Case
A Long Beach teen-ager was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison for the execution-style slaying of a high school classmate in what became known as the “Ace of Spades” case.
Michael McDonald, 18, was convicted in May of second-degree murder in the Feb. 1, 1992, death of 16-year-old Alexander Giraldo, a fellow student at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach.
Police at one time linked Giraldo’s death to the Ace of Spades, a multiethnic gang that espoused military virtues and committed crimes for kicks.
During the trial, investigators backed away from blaming the murder on the gang. Instead, prosecutor Ken Lamb argued only that McDonald and three other Poly students beat and stabbed Giraldo, strangled him with metal wire and rolled his body over a San Pedro cliff.
Defense attorneys countered by claiming that the Ace of Spades killed Giraldo, and that their clients had no ties to the gang. One teen-ager testified against the other three, but jury members, citing discrepancies in his testimony, convicted only McDonald.
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