Lover’s Life Is Spared in CityWalk Deaths

Almost three years to the day she and her lover murdered his mother and ex-girlfriend at Universal CityWalk, Donna Lee was spared the death penalty Monday when prosecutors announced they will no longer seek her execution.

Instead, she will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A jury convicted Lee and Paul Carasi this year of two counts of first degree murder for the Mother’s Day 1995 slayings. The same jury recommended death for Carasi but deadlocked on Lee’s sentence. Two of the 12 jurors said they could not vote for her death because they were unsure how large a role she played.

Prosecutors could have persisted, putting on a second trial on the penalty question. But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Gilligan said Monday that his office will accept a life sentence because it would be even harder to get the death penalty at a retrial.

“The decision was based on the broadly held view that it would be more difficult to obtain a unanimous verdict on death with simply Miss Lee being present and with Mr. Carasi not there to deflect the aspersions cast in his direction,” he said. “It’s always easier to blame it on the phantom than somebody who’s live, in court, with counsel.”

But Gilligan also said that he still thinks she deserved death as much as Carasi did. “I think it was clear that she was the stronger personality despite her defense,” he said. “This would not have happened without her consent.”

Both Carasi and Lee are scheduled to be sentenced May 26. Although the jury recommended death for Carasi, the judge could set the penalty at life without parole.

During the trial, Gilligan and Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Stirling told the jury that the couple chose to kill Carasi’s ex-girlfriend, Sonia Salinas, and his mother, Doris Carasi, after Salinas attached his wages for child support for their son Michael, now 5.

His mother sided with Salinas, taking the young woman into her apartment and telling Carasi to move out.

Lee and Carasi were convicted in March of the murders and the special circumstances of ambushing the women, being motivated by money, and multiple murders.

Judicial economy is another reason Gilligan said he is no longer seeking death.