Killer Sentenced to Life Without Parole

A 67-year-old retired airline mechanic from Hawthorne who was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend and another woman was sentenced Friday to two concurrent life terms in prison without possibility of parole.

Before sentencing Hoyt Conway Watkins, Torrance Superior Court Judge Francis Hourigan rejected defense attorney Charles T. Mathews’ motions asking for either a new trial or a reduction of the charges from murder to manslaughter.

Watkins pleaded guilty last year to two counts of manslaughter and could have been released after 10 years in state prison. But he withdrew the plea in May and the case went to trial.

In January, jurors convicted Watkins of murder in the shooting of his fiancee, 44-year-old Laura Martha Alfaro, and her friend, Ignacia Carmen Rodriguez, 37, while the three rode in Watkins’ Cadillac on Aug. 30, 1989.

Watkins, who had won $100,000 in the California Lottery the previous year, contended during the trial that Rodriguez was trying to use him and Alfaro to get his money. He said Rodriguez sparked an argument and began hitting him on the head as he drove, prompting him to pull out the gun in self-defense.

Both women were left for dead in Watkins’ garage, but Rodriguez--whose skull was fractured during a pistol-whipping and who had been shot once in the head--managed to stagger to a neighboring house before collapsing and dying.

The neighbors called police, resulting in a two-hour standoff between officers and Watkins, who ultimately surrendered.