Man Gets 35 Years in ‘Flashback’ Slaying

A Long Beach man who shot his son-in-law to death on a quiet residential street in 1996--then said during a trial that he fired while flashing back to his days as a World War II prisoner of war--was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years to life in state prison.

In imposing a sentence all but certain to send Dick Keech, 78, to prison for the rest of his life, Superior Court Judge William T. Garner said he was doing so with a “heavy heart” because he--like Keech--is a former Marine.

In shooting 47-year-old Nick Candy to death May 21, 1996, Garner said, Keech “betrayed the ideals for which he and his comrades in arms had given so much.”

Earlier, in a lengthy court monologue delivered in a barely audible voice, Keech showed no remorse and offered no apology.

Instead, he said, before shooting Candy, he had prayed--wondering what to do. “The result you all know,” Keech said. “My daughter was freed and the burden . . . shifted onto my shoulders.”

One of his attorneys, Portland, Ore.-based lawyer Paul Mones, said afterward: “Mr. Keech acted to protect his daughter and he will go to his grave knowing he protected his daughter. He is quite comfortable knowing that.”

But a prosecutor in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy-Hannah Broersma, said: “Justice is served.”

Keech was convicted Nov. 25 by a jury of first-degree murder. During a lengthy trial, defense lawyers had contended that Keech suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and shot Candy in a flashback to the 40 months he endured as a prisoner of Japan during World War II.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a widely recognized affliction that bedevils combat veterans, police officers, battered women and others.

After service with the Marines in China, he was captured at Corregidor in the Philippines in May 1942, and spent the rest of the war--until September 1945--in a camp.

In a report released Tuesday, Keech told probation officers of “screaming, mad, raging guards” and a commandant in one camp dubbed the “White Angel,” a “madman” who was “totally insane,” beat prisoners on a daily basis and “drove the men to their deaths.”

Upon returning home, Keech worked for 30-plus years at Rockwell before retiring. He has been married to the same woman for 48 years. They have four children.

Keech’s daughter, Nancy, married Candy in 1991.

In September 1994, they had a son, Martin. In August 1995, they split up, launching a bitter custody battle. And on May 21, 1996, Keech shot his son-in-law to death.

That evening, Candy, a contracts administrator at Universal Studios, showed up at the Keech family’s Long Beach home--where Nancy and Martin had moved--to pick up his son for a visit.

The two men began arguing. Keech drew a 9-millimeter handgun from his waistband and shot Candy in the abdomen.

Candy ran down the street, yelling, “Help me! Help me!” Keech followed and shot him four more times, according to testimony.

Keech testified that he believed Candy--who was unarmed--was going to punch him. That was why he fired the first shot, he said.

The others, he said, came while he was on “autopilot,” apparently believing he was shooting at a Japanese prison guard.

Jurors rejected his claim. His attorneys said Tuesday that they intend to appeal.

In court Tuesday before being sentenced, Keech maintained that Candy had verbally abused his daughter and terrorized her with threats to take their son.

“My father,” Nancy Candy said later, “is a wonderful man. He believed he was protecting his family.”

Nonsense, said Jocelyne Candy Bunyan, 56, Nick Candy’s sister.

She said of Keech: “He had the opportunity to apologize to me. But he didn’t.”