THOUSAND OAKS : Jury Recommends Death for Killer

After three days of deliberations, a Van Nuys Superior Court jury decided Monday that a San Fernando Valley man should be put to death for killing a 19-year-old Thousand Oaks woman.

The same panel last month found Douglas Oliver Kelly, 37, of Valley Village, guilty of murder with the special circumstances that it occurred in the course of a rape and robbery, and that a deadly weapon was used in the 1993 killing of Sara Weir.

A hearing will be held Friday to set a date for sentencing by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael R. Hoff.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven J. Ipsen said the jury came back with the proper decision for a man with a history of sexually assaulting women.

“Ten years ago while raping a woman, he told her he would never be caught. Well, finally, and justly, he has been proven wrong by 12 citizens of California,” Ipsen said. “He has been preying on women for 15 years, and now he should start praying to God.”

Ipsen said that jurors told him outside the courtroom they took three days to reach a decision because they were searching for something good about Kelly to avoid giving him the death penalty.

“But they said they could not find any hint of humanity in him,” Ipsen said.

Weir’s decomposing body was found Sept. 15, 1993, in a Valley Village apartment Kelly had shared with a former girlfriend, who had broken up with him two weeks earlier after he beat her.

Weir had been reported missing Sept. 7, and officials believe she may have been dead for at least a week before her nude body was discovered with 34 stab wounds.

Weir had met Kelly at a health club where he worked as a janitor and was hired by some club members as a personal trainer.

Police said that immediately after the slaying Kelly fled to Mexico in Weir’s car.

He was arrested Nov. 24, 1993, in Laredo, Tex., as he re-entered the United States from Mexico. Kelly had been arrested at least five times on rape charges, but was able to avoid being sentenced to prison, Ipsen said.