Opinion ID: 844231
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Petitioner's Statements About the Offense

Text: Petitioner has made various statements about Erma's murder during his years in custody. At his parole hearing in 1997, he claimed he had shot Erma by accident; they did not fight before the shooting; she had handed him the gun for his own protection; he did not know the gun was loaded; and he had not aimed at her. When petitioner was interviewed for a CDCR report before his 2004 parole hearing, he declined the opportunity to amend this version of the offense. A 2004 Board report quotes petitioner as saying that after he and his wife had a few drinks, Erma told him there had been a prowler in the neighborhood and wanted him to look at one of his guns to see if she could use it. She sat the gun on my lap in a leather case. I took it out and the shells that were in the box fell out. I picked up the gun and pointed at the fireplace. I said, `bang,' and pulled the trigger at the same time. The gun went off. I saw my wife on the floor. I did not see her before that. I ran around the house screaming and then called 911 after I found the phone. When interviewed by a psychologist in 2004, petitioner explained that he and his wife were both drunk, and she was upset about a purchase of some carnival glass that evidently was broken during shipment. After the subject of the prowler came up, she gave me the gun and it was loaded, but I didn't know that. I pulled out the gun. This part nobody wants to believe. I pointed the gun and pulled the trigger just when she bent over and it went into her neck and killed her. I didn't want to kill her. It was an accident. Asked whether there was an argument, petitioner replied: No, we talked about the carnival glass. I don't remember the whole thing. I do remember shooting my wife, then called 911. The worst thing about the crime was drinking. I shouldn't have had a firearm. The argument was stupid. It was the most stupid thing I've ever done in my life. I still miss her. We were good friends and loved each other. In 2009, petitioner's privately retained psychologist described his recitation of the offense as essentially consistent with the versions she saw in prior reports. She wrote that petitioner has long since achieved compelling insights into the causes that resulted in his need to remain in an unhappy long term marriage and the reasons for his inability to leave the marriage. `I know why I could not leave the marriage and the alcoholism exacerbated my fears. I was scared of being alone and felt I had no other choice but to continue on with Erma. I take responsibility for her being shot. I was drunk and had no sense of what happened when the gun was dropped in my lap. I am not that person and haven't been for many years.'