D.A. Will Not Seek Death Penalty for 2 Slaying Suspects

Ventura County prosecutors on Tuesday said they would not seek the death penalty for two men accused in the June 1998 slaying of downtown Ventura restaurant owner Felipe Arambula.

William D. Hampton, 19, and Jose Vazquez, 37, will stand trial on charges of murder, burglary and attempted kidnapping in the fatal shooting of Arambula at his Ventura home.

Both men remain in jail without bail. An arraignment in Superior Court is scheduled for today. A trial date has not been set.

Authorities believe Vazquez, a Camarillo resident, planned a kidnap-for-hire scheme in which he allegedly agreed to pay Hampton and another man to nab Arambula when he came home from work June 13.

At a preliminary hearing in December, witnesses testified that Arambula might have owed as much as $50,000 to Vazquez or to Vazquez’s wife.

The scheme allegedly went awry when Arambula, the 35-year-old owner of Taqueria Vallarta on Main Street, fought two intruders inside his home. During the struggle, he was shot six times, authorities said.

Hampton, a Casitas Springs resident, has admitted to firing the deadly rounds, but said the shooting was not premeditated, authorities said. He has insisted the plan was only to scare Arambula and take him to a prearranged location.

One witness, though, testified at the preliminary hearing that several weeks before the killing, Vazquez gave one gun to Hampton and the second alleged kidnapper, Manuel Vasquez, who fled the country after the shooting.

Prosecutors on Tuesday declined to reveal why they opted against seeking execution of the men if they are convicted.

“Specifically, I can’t tell you in this particular case what weighed heavily one way or another,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert said. “Everything is a consideration and we look at the totality of it.”

Calvert said a group of 10 people--prosecutors, department supervisors, deputies and investigators--met Monday to discuss the case. Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury made the final decision, he said.

Bradbury said in a prepared statement that the decision was reached after a review of several factors, including the circumstances and gravity of the crimes and the backgrounds of the accused.

Each man is charged with special circumstances that make him eligible for the death penalty. Those allegations are that the killing was committed during a burglary and attempted kidnapping.

The maximum penalty both men now face is life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.

Wilson is a Times staff writer; Wolcott is a Times Community News reporter.