VAN NUYS : Jury to Weigh Death Penalty for Killer

Although a prosecutor urged the death penalty for a parolee convicted of murdering an armored car guard, a defense attorney said Thursday that life in prison would be an appropriate punishment for the killer.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury is scheduled to begin deliberations Monday in the penalty phase of Sean Darnell Slade’s murder trial.

The same panel that will decide Slade’s fate convicted him in the execution-style murder of armored courier Edwin Maldonado during a July 29, 1992, robbery at a Home Depot store in San Fernando.

“Society shows its value for life by how it treats those . . . who take that life,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Jonas said during his closing argument.

The prosecutor reminded jurors that Slade, 27, admitted that he would deserve the death penalty if he had ambushed Maldonado after the guard had picked up $82,000 in receipts from the hardware store.

But, Jonas said, Slade has denied he had any role in the robbery-murder, blaming the judge, jury, prosecutor and mother of another man he killed for his arrest and conviction.

Aiming to demonstrate that Slade is a menace to society, Jonas cited testimony of a woman Slade was dating in 1987 when he admittedly gunned down Howard Baker during a dispute over drugs and money.

Rochelle Bradford testified Tuesday that after killing Baker, Slade first slept, then wanted to have sex, then ate breakfast as he gloated over the killing.

“He didn’t care,” Bradford said. “He was calm; he was happy.”

“I couldn’t imagine that someone I cared about could be so evil,” said Bradford, who added that Slade threatened to kill her and her family if she did not lie in court.

Slade pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Baker killing and served about four years in prison.

He was paroled only 25 days before Maldonado was ambushed.

Defense attorney Bruce Hill avoided the details of the two shootings and focused on any “lingering doubt” the jury may have about convicting Slade.

“Are you that sure?” Hill asked as he read off the names of 23 people he said were wrongfully convicted and executed in the United States since 1900.

“Death is an absolute punishment and should be imposed only if you’re absolutely certain,” said Hill, who argued that life in prison means Slade will forever live in a cell about the size of a small bathroom.