N.M. Teens Sentenced in Killing at Zuma Beach : Murder: The 18-year-old who stabbed the victim received life without parole. His accomplice, also 18, got 25 years to life.

SANTA MONICA —  A New Mexico teen-ager was sentenced this week to life in prison without parole and his companion was given 25 years to life for the murder last year of a Northridge woman at Zuma Beach.

Despite emotional pleas this week from the families of the two men, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge David Perez on Monday sentenced Guillermo Bustos to serve the remainder of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering Jacqueline Kirkham, 43.

The sentence for Bustos’ accomplice, Michael Loretto, was handed down Tuesday.

In non-jury trials last month, Perez found Bustos, 18, guilty of murder, robbery and two special circumstances. Loretto, also 18, was convicted of murder and robbery. Both were ineligible for the death penalty because they were under 18 when the crime was committed.

Kirkham was killed May 28, 1991, in a women’s restroom at the Malibu beach after she had spent the day sunning herself, according to testimony in the teen-agers’ trials in October.

Bustos, Loretto and a third youth, who has not been charged, wanted her car so they could return home to Pojoaque, N.M., where they were arrested.

Perez said aggravating circumstances of using a deadly weapon and the severity of the two stab wounds Bustos inflicted upon Kirkham clearly outweighed the fact that Bustos was only 16 when the crime occurred and that he had no previous record of violent conduct.

In asking Perez to impose the maximum penalty of life in prison without parole, Deputy Dist. Atty. Harvey Giss said previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings indicate that “the theory that prison rehabilitates is balderdash.”

“The paramount concern in sentencing is protection of society,” Giss said.

“The victim of a homicide becomes nothing but a statistic,” he said. “An empty chair and only a mouthful of words from a prosecutor” remain to tell the victim’s story.

“Consider the loneliness she went through in the last minutes of her life, confronted by strangers in the women’s restroom,” Giss said. “The hurt in this case is horrible.”

One of Kirkham’s two daughters and her ex-husband also asked Perez for the maximum penalty.

“She was a great mother and a kindhearted person who was more like a sister to me,” said Natahlie O’Donnell, 25.

O’Donnell, the mother of three children, including a daughter who was born after Kirkham died, said: “When my children get older, I’ll have to explain what happened to their grandmother. . . . I don’t know how I’ll do that.”

John Kirkham, who was married to the victim for 18 years, said she was “the victim of a horrible crime, but the real victims are my daughters.”

“It is absolutely devastating to think someone can take a human life like that,” he said.

Bustos’ parents, brother, sister and an aunt issued tearful pleas to Perez to show leniency in his sentencing and expressed their sorrow to the victim’s family.

“My prayers have been with the victim since this homicide happened,” Martin Bustos, 44, said. “I feel my son can be rehabilitated and become a good and productive citizen if not given the maximum penalty.”

Bustos’ mother, Arlene, said: “Guillermo’s being away from us has hurt me so much. Guillermo and I can talk to each other, and he has expressed to me many times how sorry he is for what he has done to two families and his own life.

“I beg this court for leniency for my son to come home just one day, just one day, just one day,” she said.

After family members made their tearful statements, Bustos stood to speak. It was the first time he addressed the court since his arrest.

“I realize what I did was wrong,” he said slowly, “and I personally want to apologize to this family. She’ll never come home again. I ask for you to forgive me.

“It hurts me very much to see my family come up here. I’m willing to pay for my mistakes,” Bustos said. “It would be nice to know I could come home someday--30 years, 40 years, 20 years from now--and start a new life.”

Although he acknowledged that Loretto did not stab the victim, Perez said he will make a strong recommendation to the prison board not to consider Loretto for parole until he has served at least 25 years. Perez gave Loretto 23 months’ credit for time served and good behavior. Loretto and Bustos have been in custody since their arrest in June, 1991.

Defense attorney Joel Peck portrayed Loretto as someone with “no desire to do more than steal a car and go home.”

Addressing Perez, Loretto said: “No matter what I say, it won’t change the past. I made a mistake . . . but my life has meaning for me because of my family and friends. I pray for mercy from the court and my prayers go out to Mrs. Kirkham’s family.”

Also speaking on Loretto’s behalf were his mother, stepfather, sister, a priest and a childhood friend.