Judge Sentences Murderer of College Student to Death

Calling the rape and murder of Santa Monica College student Katrina Montgomery “unspeakably brutal,” a judge sentenced white power gang member Justin Merriman to death Tuesday.

“I have no doubt about Mr. Merriman’s culpability,” Judge Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. said during a sentencing hearing in Ventura County Superior Court. “The evidence in this case was truly overwhelming.”

Merriman, who stunned observers during his trial by giving a Nazi salute, fidgeted in his chair as he was sentenced for killing the 20-year-old Montgomery in 1992. He will become the 12th man sent to San Quentin’s death row from Ventura County since the death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978.

Supported by two dozen friends and family members, the victim’s mother, Katy, expressed the sorrow she has felt since her daughter was killed more than eight years ago.

“We have endured all that we are able,” she told the judge. “We trust the court to bring this to a just end today.”

Merriman, who smiled at his mother and grandmother as he entered and left the courtroom, continued to deny committing the murder. “I stand before you in complete innocence,” he said, his voice shaking. “My life has been taken away unjustly. I am not the person I am made out to be.”

The 28-year-old Ventura man, with a bushy mustache and several tattoos, accused prosecutors of lying and his own lawyers of defending him inadequately.

“I was frustrated with the way things transpired in my trial,” he told the judge. “I can’t believe the outcome that has ultimately become my fate.”

Katrina Montgomery disappeared Nov. 28, 1992, after leaving a party in Oxnard. Later that day, her bloodstained pickup truck was found abandoned in the Angeles National Forest. The murder went unsolved until a series of breaks led to the 1999 indictment of Merriman, an unemployed parolee and member of a white power gang.

During his 2 1/2-month trial, prosecutors portrayed Merriman as a violent man who sexually assaulted women and used his gang connections to avoid prosecution and intimidate witnesses. They argued that Merriman, who had known Montgomery for a few years and had sent her increasingly provocative letters from prison, raped and then beat her with a wrench at his mother’s condo. Then, they said, he slit her throat, so she couldn’t report the assault to police.

During closing arguments in Merriman’s trial, defense attorneys admitted that their client killed Montgomery but said it was unplanned and did not warrant a first-degree murder conviction.

Jurors convicted him in February of first-degree murder, conspiracy, witness intimidation and the rapes of two other women.

Then, during the penalty phase of the proceedings, Merriman drew gasps when he gave a Nazi salute, took the witness stand and proclaimed his innocence.

The jury recommended the death penalty, despite a defense argument that Merriman suffered from severe psychological problems.

On Tuesday, defense attorney Willard Wiksell argued for a new trial, saying the judge erred by not declaring a mistrial after an incident of juror misconduct. While the penalty phase was underway, a juror had told a friend that the panel planned to “fry” Merriman. Wiksell said his client was deprived of the right to an unbiased jury.

The defense also presented a motion to impose a penalty of life without the possibility of parole. Wiksell said it was fundamentally unfair that his client should receive a death sentence when two other men who witnessed the crime and helped dispose of Montgomery’s body--Sylmar gang members Larry Nicassio and Ryan Bush--are on parole.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh disagreed, saying that death is the only fair sentence for the serial rapist and coldblooded murderer. “What’s fundamentally unfair is that the defendant raped Ms. Montgomery repeatedly that night,” Bamieh said. “What’s fundamentally unfair is that she was slaughtered.”

Judge O’Neill denied both defense motions and then reviewed the probation report, which said Merriman was devoid of moral character and had a propensity for violence and racial bigotry. In addition to death, the judge sentenced Merriman to 67 years, which will be stayed pending his execution.

Wiksell said after the hearing that he was not surprised by the sentence. “It’s as we anticipated,” he said. “But it’s unfortunate. It’s a sad day.”

Bamieh said the county will be safer now that Merriman is being sent to death row. “The main thing is that he will never walk the streets of Ventura County again.”

Outside the courtroom, Katy Montgomery said she was thankful that the case is finally over.

“There’s no happiness,” she said. “There’s no joy. But there is a sense of relief.”

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Times staff writer Tracy Wilson contributed to this story.