Man Pleads No Contest in Slaying of Wife

A Northridge man who stabbed his estranged wife and then ran over her in a minivan pleaded no contest Monday to first-degree murder, attorneys said.

Samuel Duran, 54, avoided a possible death sentence in a plea deal struck with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. He is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The May 21 killing of Teresa Ramirez Duran, 56, horrified a Northridge neighborhood.

Samuel Duran, an auto mechanic, was charged with driving a rented minivan into his wife’s compact car, forcing it into a parked truck in the 8300 block of Vanalden Avenue, a block from the couple’s home of 30 years. Duran chased down the screaming woman, stabbed her repeatedly and ran over her several times before driving away, police said.

Several people tried to stop Duran. One witness said he was smiling during the attack. Teresa Duran died at the scene.

Samuel Duran has a history of violence. He was convicted in 1988 of assault and mayhem and sentenced to seven years in state prison for attacking a city inspector who confronted him about an illegal wall outside his home.

The attack left the inspector blind in one eye.

Earlier this year, his wife obtained a restraining order against him and then lived in a battered women’s shelter, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joe Weimortz. Duran had been stalking his wife before he killed her.

In the plea arrangement, Duran also admitted the special circumstance of attempted kidnapping. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6 by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen.

“He chose to accept this disposition, which shows he’s willing to accept responsibility for his actions,” said Deputy Public Defender Mitch Bruckner, Duran’s attorney.

Prosecutors offered the plea bargain to spare the Durans’ two adult children a lengthy trial, Weimortz said.