Plotter Died in Killing for Hire, Sheriff Says

The way detectives see it, Dr. Kenneth C. Stahl was a man who got snared in a deadly double-double cross.

For months, they said, he had meticulously planned the murder of his wife.

He left no detail to chance, from the romantic dinner to the impromptu ride along a remote stretch of Ortega Highway later that night where two hired killers were supposed to meet the couple and carry out the hit.

But something went wrong.

As Orange County sheriff’s officials outlined their case Tuesday, the assassins not only killed Stahl’s wife, a 44-year-old optometrist, but also turned their handgun on the doctor himself.

For more than a year, the case baffled detectives, who were left with very little physical evidence at the desolate crime scene and no apparent motive for anyone to kill the popular Huntington Beach doctors. Both were found shot execution-style, with the car’s headlights on, engine idling and transmission in park.

But in the last few weeks, detectives finally began to unravel details of the mystery. Checking Stahl’s cell phone records, detectives determined that the doctor had been carrying on a protracted love affair with a 33-year-old Anaheim woman, Adriana Vasco.

That led them to an unexpected conclusion: that Vasco and her boyfriend killed the couple after receiving about $30,000 from Stahl in exchange for the hit.

Vasco and the boyfriend, Dennis Earl Godley, 30, were charged this week with murdering the couple. In addition, they face three special circumstance allegations--multiple murder, killing for financial gain and lying in wait--that make them eligible for the death penalty.

Vasco and Godley could not be reached for comment. They will be arraigned later this week.

Detectives believe Godley was the triggerman but are unsure why Stahl was killed. Sources familiar with the probe said investigators are examining a number of theories, including the possibility that Godley was jealous over the doctor’s relationship with Vasco, wanted to eliminate all witnesses to the killing, or simply panicked.

The case took detectives from the hospital corridors of Orange County to a small town in North Carolina, where Godley allegedly fled after the killings.

Kenneth Stahl and Carolyn Oppy met at a doctor’s lounge in the Pico Rivera hospital where he worked as an anesthesiologist, said her younger sister, Linda Dubay.

Both had been married before--twice for him, once for her--and seemed eager to tie the knot again. At first, they enjoyed a loving relationship, Dubay said.

Throughout their 14-year marriage, the two doctors were something of a power couple. Stahl even served on a state medical board. But behind their professional image was a fast-fading romance. The strain intensified when Oppy-Stahl discovered Stahl had had a number of affairs, Dubay said.

“It saddened Carolyn,” Dubay said. “At one point, she talked about getting a divorce. But Ken’s mom encouraged them to go and get marriage counseling. That was four or five years ago.”

Oppy-Stahl remained hopeful to the end that the marriage would improve, family members said. By that time, though, Stahl was looking around for someone to kill his wife, authorities said.

Detectives still aren’t sure why. The doctor had no financial incentive to kill his wife, given that the couple had a prenuptial agreement. Why, they wonder, didn’t he just seek a divorce?

With murder on his mind, Stahl eventually turned to his girlfriend, hospital receptionist Vasco, to get the plot off the ground, investigators said.

“He found the right person,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Carroll.

Vasco, in turn, looked to Godley for help in planning the attack, sheriff’s officials said. Godley had not lived in Anaheim long, arriving only a few months earlier after escaping from North Carolina authorities who had tried to arrest him in connection with a robbery, officials said. Godley was living in the same Anaheim apartment complex as Vasco and the two were romantically involved, sheriff’s officials said.

On Nov. 20, 1999, Stahl and his wife planned to celebrate her 44th birthday. Oppy-Stahl told her mother during a telephone conversation that day that her husband was planning a surprise for her, family members said. Detectives later confirmed that the couple had eaten at a Mission Viejo restaurant before their deaths.

Then they left and headed east on Ortega Highway. Stahl pulled his wife’s 1996 Dodge Stratus to the side of the road. They were two miles east of Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. An emergency call box stood just feet away.

Detectives believe the killers pulled up on the opposite side of the road.

“He pulled over, knowing that the other two--Vasco and Godley--are going to go up and shoot her,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Carroll. “He’s not expecting to get killed.”

Both Stahl and his wife were shot more than once in the head with a handgun.

About 10:30 p.m., a security guard found the couple’s car. Forensic experts believe the couple had been dead for as long as 90 minutes.

Detectives found no witnesses, no sign of any struggle, not even any shell casings, only a shattered driver’s-side window.

The case sat unsolved until sheriff’s officials brought in new detectives to handle the case this year.

Their examination of Stahl’s cellular phone records led them to Vasco. From there, interviews led them to Godley and their theory of the case. But detectives Tuesday declined to elaborate on what evidence they have.

Stahl’s family issued a brief statement through the Sheriff’s Department, saying his relatives are “devastated with the revelation of these allegations.”

Prosecutors have filed two counts of murder against both Vasco and Godley. In addition, the two face three special-circumstance allegations--multiple murder, killing for financial gain and lying in wait--which make them eligible for the death penalty.