OXNARD : Man Gets 14 Years for Trying to Kill Wife

A Ventura County judge on Wednesday sentenced an Oxnard man to 14 years in state prison for attempting to kill his estranged wife after lying in wait outside the woman’s home.

Prosecutors said the case was unusual because at the time of the attack defendant Ronald Anderson was thought to be serving time in the Ventura County Jail for an earlier assault on the woman.

Jailers learned, however, that Anderson’s identical twin brother had been serving his brother’s sentence.

Anderson was convicted of attempted murder, spousal battery and robbery in connection with the July 19 incident.

Authorities said Anderson hid behind a gate at a park near the Stern Lane home of his estranged wife, Brenda. As she arrived from work, he came up behind her and started choking her, they said.

Her screams alarmed neighbors, and Anderson grabbed the woman’s purse and tried to steal her car. Unable to get into the car, he returned and choked the woman some more until she passed out, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Maeve J. Fox.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn recommended a seven-year prison sentence for his client, saying he is remorseful for the attack and is not a menace to society.

But Fox said Anderson deserved the maximum sentence of 14 years. She said he is a danger to all of society.

Campbell sentenced Anderson to 12 years for attempted murder and causing his wife great bodily injury. He received one year in prison for robbery and another year for violating probation from the previous spousal-abuse case.