Decrying years-long delay in Seal Beach massacre case, victims' families still struggle to unite over issue of death penalty

Paul Wilson, whose wife was killed in the 2011 Seal Beach salon shooting, discusses Scott Dekraai's guilty plea in Eisenhower Park in Seal Beach.

Dec. 10, 2016 6:10 PM PT

Family members of victims killed in the 2011 Seal Beach salon shooting rampage have called on the California attorney general’s office to accept the convicted killer’s guilty plea in exchange for a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole, hoping to expedite a case that has languished for years.

But not everyone was on board with the idea that Scott Dekraai, who has pleaded guilty to the killings and is awaiting punishment, should escape the death penalty, a fact that became painfully clear as more than a dozen family members gathered Saturday for a news conference at Eisenhower Park in Seal Beach, steps from an ocean-view memorial that bears victims’ names.

“We are exhausted from this continuous pain, and this has got to be over with,” said Paul Wilson, whose wife, Christy Wilson, was killed as she worked in the salon. “Life will never be the same for us, but we should have the chance to move on and heal.”

That’s where the agreement ended.

After Hattie Stretz, the sole survivor of the shooting, read prepared remarks calling on the state attorney general to accept the lesser punishment of life in prison, one of the victims’ daughters interjected from the row of family members behind her.

“We’re not all united in that, still,” said Chelsea Huff, daughter of Dekraai’s slain ex-wife, Michelle Fournier. Huff said several of her family members don’t agree with the idea of dropping the death penalty and that she had not been made aware of the statement or the news conference until the Orange County district attorney’s office called her about it.

“I want it to be over, but as a family we need to stick together,” said Butch Fournier, Michelle’s brother. “We still believe in the death penalty. We don’t want him to have that last bit of control, that last bit of what he wants.”

Stretz and others said they were unaware that any of the other family members still wanted to keep the death penalty option on the table.

Doing so could lead to lengthy appeals, she said.

The case has already been delayed for years, mired in hearings about the alleged mishandling of the case by prosecutors and a wide-ranging jail informant scandal that has drawn intense scrutiny.

Dekraai pleaded guilty two years ago to murdering eight people, including his ex-wife with whom he was involved in a custody dispute, in the 2011 shooting, but he has been awaiting trial to determine whether he will receive the death penalty or life in prison.

In addition to Fournier, 48, the victims of the shooting were salon owner Randy Fannin, 62; Lucia Kondas, 65; Michele Fast, 47; Victoria Buzzo, 54; Laura Elody, 46; Christy Wilson, 47; and David Caouette, 64, who was shot as he sat in his car outside.

Christina Stretz, left, and her daughter Anabella Stretz, 9, lay flowers on the memorial for shooting victims at Eisenhower Park.

The defendant had previously offered to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison, but the plea deal was rejected by the Orange County district attorney’s office because prosecutors refused to drop the death penalty.

Last year, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals threw the district attorney’s office off the Dekraai case, saying prosecutors had failed to turn over key information to the defense and citing a heavily scrutinized jail informant program.

Prosecutors had hoped to use Dekraai’s conversations with a jailhouse informant to prove that he deserved the death penalty.

Goethals said Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas’ handling of the case had become a “comedy of errors,” and he ordered the state attorney general’s office to take over.

Last month, a three-judge appeals court panel affirmed Goethals’ decision.

In separate remarks Saturday, Wilson sharply criticized Rackauckas for “recklessness” that he said has further delayed the process and accused him of “revictimizing” the families.

Wilson said he was disappointed and surprised after hearing that all families were not in agreement.

“I was told that everybody was on the same page and we want this to be over and get it wrapped up,” he said. “I’m completely disappointed and surprised.”

“You have some family members that think just because the word death is the end result, that that’s truly whats going to happen and all of a sudden this guy goes to the front of the line.”

The Orange County district attorney’s office said in a statement last month that it still supports the death penalty for Dekraai but said the decision whether to pursue that punishment is now up to the attorney general.

The state attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, public defender Scott Sanders said Dekraai “understands and accepts” that proceeding to sentencing without a penalty trial would “mean an end to all trial and appellate challenges in this case” and that he stands “ready to begin serving the rest of his life in prison.”

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