Jury Recommends Death for Killer in Home Robbery

A jury Friday recommended the death sentence for a man convicted of bursting into a home, shooting two people in the head and looting the house for cash.

Ignacio Tafoya, 34, of Mira Loma and an accomplice were convicted of forcing their way into the Westminster home of Gerald L. Skillman, 35, and opening fire on him and Steven F. Rita, 28.

Tafoya shot each man twice and then left with stolen money, according to police and Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum. Prosecutors contend that Skillman was targeted because he was a small-time drug dealer.

Neighbor Harold Hamilton, 28, who testified at the trial, said Friday that he was relieved by the jury’s recommendation.

“Justice was done,” Hamilton said.

On May 4, 1993, Hamilton had been repairing his truck in his front yard in the 6000 block of Bannock Road, across from Skillman’s two-story house. He testified that he saw Tafoya and Timothy T. Wynglarz, 33, of Moreno Valley push their way into Skillman’s house when Rita, a friend, answered the door.

“I knew something was wrong, so I went inside and told my mom to call the police,” Hamilton said. “Then I heard the shots.”

Hamilton ran back outside and got a description of Tafoya’s truck.

Meanwhile, upstairs in Skillman’s home, a man jumped out of a second-floor window and ran when he heard the shots, said Westminster Police Sgt. Mike Mittelstaedt. The man later testified in the case, Mittelstaedt said.

One police officer en route to the shootings saw two suspicious-looking men sitting in a truck nearby and wrote down its license plate number. The number was traced to Tafoya’s address, and witnesses’ descriptions matched Tafoya’s truck, police spokesman Robin Kapp said.

Three days later, Tafoya was arrested at his home and Wynglarz was arrested at a friend’s house.

“The whole thing shocked our neighborhood,” Hamilton said. “It’s usually quiet here, we all know each other.”

Skillman had been working in the air-conditioning business and since his divorce, had been living with his mother, Hamilton said.

“He was a good man who pretty much always kept to himself,” Hamilton said.

Tafoya is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20.

On Friday, his mother, Maria Cancino, sobbed uncontrollably upon hearing the jury recommend the death sentence and had to be led out of court.

Tafoya and Wynglarz were convicted on Feb. 8 of two counts of murder, two counts of burglary and one count of robbery in addition to several special allegations that included multiple murder.

Wynglarz faces a maximum term of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced March 17. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty against him because Tafoya was the gunman.

Staff writer Susan Marquez Owen contributed to this report.