Relatives Urge Life Sentence for Charles

Relatives of Edward Charles III pleaded for his life Thursday, saying they already had been devastated by the murders of three loved ones and didn’t want to see the death of another.

Charles, who was convicted this week of first-degree murder in the death of his father and second-degree murder in the deaths of his mother and younger brother, cried as family members urged an Orange County jury to spare him the death penalty and instead send the 23-year-old mechanic to prison for life.

“I abhor the crime that has been committed,” said Roberta Prindiville, choking with emotion as she testified about her nephew. “But the Eddie I know still has a special place in my heart.”

No matter what happened, Prindiville said, Charles is “my sister’s child. There’s no words to say how much she would not have wanted [death] for him. I don’t want this for him.”

Charles’ aunt and a cousin testified as the penalty phase of his murder trial began Thursday.

Charles was convicted Tuesday of murdering his father, Edward Charles II, 55, a Hughes Aircraft engineer; his mother, Dolores, 47, a self-employed typist; and brother Danny, 19, a promising opera singer and performer in his second year at USC.

The bodies of all three victims, who had been either stabbed, bludgeoned or strangled, were found in the family Honda, which was torched in a La Mirada school parking lot Nov. 7, 1994.

On Thursday, the defense sought to explain to jurors the dynamics of a family described as loving and normal, yet torn by pride for one son and disappointment for the other.

“The only one in their eyes making it was Danny, and they let that be known,” Deputy Public Defender Ronald Klar told the jury.

Klar said there was nothing wrong in the pride the parents felt for their youngest son or the high standards they set for both boys.

However, the effect was that Charles, an aspiring boxer who had dropped out of college, felt a deep sense of frustration and a sense that he was in a “fight he could not win,” the attorney said.

“It kept eating away at him over time,” Klar told jurors.

Relatives said they had never seen any hints of violence in Charles.

“A year has passed and all I can tell you is I’ll sit at the table and just start crying when I think about it,” said Joanne Irene, Dolores Charles’ first cousin. “It’s so unbelievable Eddie could do this.”

Prindiville recalled her nephew as a toddler sitting on his grandfather’s lap, learning his colors, his face lighting up with delight at each new discovery. She also recalled one trip to Disneyland, and the fun her children had with their cousins--memories that drew tears from Charles as he listened with his head down.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Brent told jurors Thursday that he would not be calling any new witnesses, but asked them to consider the evidence they have already heard in reaching their guilty verdicts and to “keep an open mind.”

During the trial, Brent said the three victims were slain as Charles’ grandfather slept in another room, just a few hours after the family ate dinner together.

Brent told jurors that Charles sought to destroy the bodies in a car fire and concoct an alibi as part of repeated efforts to cover up his deeds.

More relatives are expected to testify when court resumes Tuesday, including Charles’ grandfather, Bernard Severino, who had testified his grandson called from jail and asked him to take blame for the killings saying, “You’ve lived your life.”