Jury Returns With Death Verdict for Oxnard Man

He said it was an accident, he said he was sorry.

But in the end, Kenneth McKinzie could not persuade a Ventura County jury to spare his life.

After deliberating one day, the jury walked into court Wednesday morning and recommended that McKinzie be executed for beating and strangling a 73-year-old Oxnard woman during an attempted robbery three years ago.

It was the verdict prosecutors had sought last year, but an earlier jury hung 11-1 in the initial penalty phase and a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors presented the case a second time.

When the verdict prosecutors were hoping for was returned Wednesday, the courtroom fell silent.

McKinzie, who had erupted in an angry outburst two days earlier during Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Glynn’s closing argument, sat stone-faced and said nothing as the jurors were polled individually.

After they were excused, McKinzie, 39, requested a jail visit with his parents and a court order allowing phone calls to his two children, ages 8 and 17.

Flanked by two armed deputies, the four-time felon turned to thank his lawyers, who tried to convince the jury that he was deeply remorseful for his crimes and should be sentenced to life in prison, not death.

McKinzie then walked calmly across the courtroom to a nearby holding cell, glancing briefly at his mother and father, who were seated together amid a crowd of law enforcement officers. Betty McKinzie, 65, held a milky white shawl over her lap. Her husband clutched a wooden cane.

“We’re devastated,” said Kenneth McKinzie Sr., as he walked out of court.

Defense attorneys Willard Wiksell and James Farley said they intend to file a motion asking Superior Court Judge Vincent J. O’Neill Jr., who presided in the case, to amend the verdict and not impose the death penalty.

But they added that their chances are slim.

“It is very unlikely he would set aside the verdict,” Wiksell said, calling the jury’s decision “disappointing.” Farley echoed those sentiments.

“When the state wants to take another person’s life, we are all lessened in our dignity. We are all made smaller as a result, and that’s too bad,” he said.

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If, as expected, the verdict is imposed at a July 1 sentencing hearing, McKinzie will become the 12th Ventura County killer sent to death row since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978.

Farley and Wiksell had argued that McKinzie’s crime, while horrendous, did not deserve execution--particularly after he took the witness stand last week to admit the crime and ask forgiveness.

But prosecutors maintained that it was the only appropriate penalty for a man who brutally beat a defenseless woman, stuffed her alive in the trunk of her car, which he stole and drove to a remote area where he strangled her and dumped her in a ditch.

“In this case, justice truly was served,” Glynn said Wednesday. “This man committed an absolutely vicious crime against an old lady.”

Ruth Avril was attacked by McKinzie as she turned off a light in her garage around midnight on Dec. 21, 1995. McKinzie admitted to punching her and slamming her head on the concrete floor.

McKinzie’s girlfriend lived across the alley from the south Oxnard apartment building Avril owned. He told the jury that he needed money to buy Christmas presents for his children and decided to rob Avril when he heard her walking downstairs that night.

But when Avril fought back, he got angry and started beating her. He told the jury he grabbed Avril’s keys, opened the trunk of her car and stuffed her inside.

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He then drove to a narrow, dead-end road near an agricultural field. McKinzie testified that he opened the trunk and Avril tripped as she was getting out, falling into the ditch where he left her.

But the coroner testified at both the recent penalty phase and the earlier murder trial that Avril had been choked for about six minutes. The coroner said bruises on the victim’s neck indicated manual strangulation, which was ruled the cause of death along with blunt-force injuries.

McKinzie adamantly denied strangling Avril, but a prosecution witness testified that the defendant admitted choking the woman during a conversation immediately after the crime.

McKinzie told jurors he returned to Avril’s house at least three times after Dec. 21 to steal her belongings, including a VCR, stereo and a camera, which he gave his then 14-year-old daughter for Christmas.

During the murder trial last year, McKinzie denied playing any role in the robbery, carjacking and murder. He was convicted of those crimes as well as burglary for using Avril’s ATM card to obtain money for drugs.

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McKinzie testified at the murder trial, saying another Oxnard resident, Donald Thomas, was responsible for the crimes.

But during the second penalty trial, the defendant recanted his earlier testimony, admitted he lied and told jurors that an overwhelming sense of guilt prompted him to come forward and tell the truth.

He testified that he felt “nasty” for causing Avril’s death and apologized for lying. He said God and his family had forgiven him and that he was prepared to accept whatever punishment the jury handed down.

When Glynn told the jury during final summations Monday afternoon that the defendant’s claims of religious redemption were another lie, McKinzie exploded in a rage and the judge called a brief recess.

The jury began its deliberations Tuesday morning and announced that it had reached a verdict at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Glynn said he was fairly certain the jury had voted for death when it came back so quickly. He added that prosecutors were hopeful when some jurors nodded their heads in agreement as he gave his summation Monday.

“I felt there were a lot of strong people on the jury who truly hated McKinzie,” he said, adding that the pressure for a unanimous verdict was intense after the first penalty phase ended in a mistrial.

“There is a tremendous emotional toll that a death penalty case takes on both sides,” Glynn said. “It was draining both physically and emotionally. To not have this outcome would have been pretty hard to take.”

Times staff photographer Steve Osman contributed to this story.