California IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Car Owner’s Killer Gets Death Sentence

A man convicted of murdering an Anaheim woman and wounding her husband to steal the Corvette they had advertised for sale was sentenced to die in the California gas chamber. Superior Court Judge Frank P. Briseno sentenced Robert (T-Bone) Taylor, 38, of Sunset Beach for fatally shooting Ryoko Hanano, 60, and seriously wounding her husband, Kazumi, then 62, during a robbery in the couple’s home. Briseno sentenced Taylor’s accomplice, Norman James DeWitt, 34, of Cypress to life in prison without parole plus 11 years for his role in the June, 1988, slaying. Both men were convicted of first-degree murder last February. The prosecution alleged that the two shot the Hananos, then stole a $20,000 Corvette they had advertised for sale in a newspaper.