Similarities in Murders Show Defendant’s Guilt, Jury Is Told

A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that they need only study the similarities between two gory murders--one in Hawaii, the other in Los Alamitos--to conclude that both were the work of Robert Mark Edwards.

“This is a tale of two crime scenes,” Deputy Dist. Atty. David L. Brent said as Edwards’ trial began in Orange County Superior Court.

The 35-year-old former Long Beach resident, who was convicted in a 1993 Hawaii slaying, could face the death penalty if found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering Los Alamitos real estate agent Marjorie E. Deeble 10 years ago.

Edwards is also charged with special allegations that the murder occurred during a burglary and involved torture--charges that could lead to a death sentence if he is convicted.

Brent said in an interview that although Edwards was sentenced to five life-imprisonment terms in Hawaii, he nevertheless could be eligible for parole in 15 years under that state’s laws. The Orange County district attorney’s office is hoping a conviction on all the charges here will yield at least a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, the only option if jurors rule against a death sentence.

For prosecutors, the case hinges on the parallels between the two killings--both victims died by strangulation and were sexually assaulted with cans of hairstyling mousse--which they say represent the signature work of a single murderer.

But Edwards’ defense lawyer told jurors that the two death scenes had little in common and asserted there is no solid evidence linking the defendant to the slaying of Deeble, 55, found strangled with a belt in her first-floor apartment May 15, 1986.

“There is nothing linking Rob Edwards to the crime scene . . . no fiber, no fingerprints,” Deputy Public Defender Daniel P. Bates said during his opening statement.

Edwards, who dated Deeble’s daughter in the months before the slaying, was investigated but not charged in the Los Alamitos killing until after the Jan. 25, 1993, slaying on Maui.

He lived near 67-year-old Muriel Delbe at the time she was found strangled and sexually mutilated in the resort where she stayed. Bloody handprints and footprints and other evidence helped Hawaii prosecutors convict Edwards; he was sentenced in 1994 to five consecutive life terms.

Now Orange County prosecutors are relying on the Hawaii case to convict Edwards of the Los Alamitos slaying, contending that the Deeble slaying bore the same trademarks and therefore must have been done by him.

But Judge John J. Ryan ruled that jurors cannot be told of Edwards’ conviction in the Hawaii case, so the prosecutor essentially must present evidence as if he were trying both murder cases at once. Jurors can be shown evidence linking Edwards to the Delbecq killing.

Brent cited a string of similarities in the two killings. Both strangulation victims had been severely beaten and suffered wounds to their private parts. A blood-stained mousse can was found near Deeble’s body. Both victims lived alone on the first floor and both times the homes were ransacked and items taken.

Brent said that Edwards knew where Deeble hid a house key outside and that there had been hard feelings between the two. He did not elaborate.

But Bates told jurors the two murder scenes were “radically different.” The defense lawyer said the methods of strangulation were different and that Deeble’s body did not show the same level of trauma suffered by Delbecq.

In a hearing outside the presence of jurors, Bates ticked off other differences: Deeble’s body did not have a broken neck, bite marks and scratches; Delbecq’s did.