Haun Gets Life Term in Woman’s Killing

There were no words of remorse from Diana Haun, who was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for fatally stabbing her lover’s wife.

There were no deals to reduce prison time in exchange for her testimony against lover and co-defendant, Michael Dally.

There were only the parting words of an angry and grief-stricken mother seeking some degree of justice for her daughter’s slaying.

“Losing you is like having my heart pulled out of my chest,” said Karlyne Guess, the mother of murder victim Sherri Dally. “It hurts so much that I never got to say goodbye.”

Turning to her daughter’s convicted killer, Guess asked Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones to impose the jury’s verdict in favor of life imprisonment. She told the judge that Haun does not deserve hope in her future.

“Her life should not be easy,” Guess said in a quiet, even voice.

Jones imposed the sentence, the harshest possible sanction, since the jury rejected prosecutors’ call for the death penalty last month. Later in the day, he began hearing motions in the case of her co-defendant, with jury selection set to begin in mid-December.

Haun stared blankly at the floor of the courtroom as Guess read a 10-page letter addressed to “My precious daughter Sherri.”

Sherri Dally was abducted from the parking lot of a Ventura Target store May 6, 1996. Witnesses said they saw the 35-year-old homemaker and mother of two young boys handcuffed and placed into the back seat of a car driven by a blond woman.

During a six-week trial, prosecutors presented evidence to suggest the woman was Haun wearing a wig and disguise. They argued that she killed Dally by stabbing her repeatedly in the chest before dumping her body in a ravine between Ventura and Ojai.

Dally’s skeletal remains were found by a search party 26 days after her disappearance. In her statement, Guess said those days were filled with anxiety, fear and dashed hopes.

“My life as I know it ended on May 6, 1996,” Guess said.

Haun was convicted Sept. 26 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. The jury also found, in part, that Haun committed murder for financial gain--a special circumstance allegation that enhances her sentence considerably.

Haun said nothing during her sentencing. She made no statement in a probation report and declined to make an appeal to the court before Jones imposed sentence.

Her friends and relatives, however, sent letters to the judge seeking leniency and placement in a women’s prison that would allow her to lead a productive life.