Gerald Gallego

Case details

Gerald Armond Gallego (July 17, 1946 – July 18, 2002) was an American serial killer who terrorized Sacramento, California between 1978 and 1980. Charlene Adelle Gallego (born October 10, 1956) was his partner.

Timeline

• September 10, 1978 — Rhonda Scheffler (17) and Kippi Vaught Scheffler and Vaught (16) were shopping at Sacramento's Country Club Plaza; Charlene picked them up and put them in the back of the couple's van; Gerald repeatedly raped them throughout the night in Baxter, California.
• September 11, 1978 — Rhonda Scheffler and Kippi Vaught were killed after Gerald ordered them out in a field/ditch area; he hit Kippi first with a tire iron, then hit Rhonda; he shot each girl in the head with a .25 caliber pistol; after one victim moved (later revealed as Kippi Vaught) because the bullet had only grazed her skull, he returned and shot her three more times in the head; the bodies were discovered on September 13, 1978 by migrant farm workers.
• September 13, 1978 — Migrant farm workers discovered the lifeless bodies of Rhonda Scheffler and Kippi Vaught.
• September 27, 1978 — Gerald’s daughter Krista filed charges of incest, sodomy, oral copulation, and unlawful intercourse against her father.
• September 30, 1978 — Gerald and Charlene were wed.
• December 1978 — The couple was staying in Houston Texas, and Gerald took on the alias Stephen Feil.
• June 24, 1979 — Brenda Judd (14) and Sandra Colley (13) vanished from the Washoe County Fair in Nevada after being lured on the promise of making some money delivering leaflets; Charlene drove the van northeast out of Reno on I-80; Gerald repeatedly raped the two girls while Charlene watched in the rearview mirror; Charlene parked the van in a desolate area known as Humboldt Sink; Gerald pulled Colley out with a shovel and beat her; Gerald beat Judd to death and dug a deep hole, folding the naked bodies of the two girls into it and placing a rock over the grave.
• August 1979 — The Gallegos moved back to Sacramento, continuing to use the aliases of Mr. and Mrs. Feil.
• April 24, 1980 — The Gallegos kidnapped Stacey Redican and Karen Chipman Twiggs from Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights; after being abducted, they were sexually abused and killed.
• April 24, 1980 — In the California case, Gerald abducted Craig Miller (22) and his fiancée Mary Elizabeth Sowers (21) and killed them; he ordered Charlene to drive to their apartment; he raped Mary Beth in the bedroom; he ordered Charlene to drive to a rural area; he shot Mary Beth three times at point blank range.
• June 1, 1980 — Gerald and Charlene married each other for a second time as Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Robert Feil.
• June 7, 1980 — Gerald abducted Linda Aguilar (21), four months pregnant, as she walked from a tavern where she worked and after being served drinks by her on numerous occasions; Gerald raped Linda, beat her over the head with a rock, strangled her corpse, and she died; her body was discovered by German tourists on June 22, 1980.
• June 22, 1980 — Linda Aguilar’s badly decomposing body was discovered on the beach; it was determined an autopsy that she actually had awakened after captors left, and in her panic and struggle to get free suffocated in the sand.
• July 17, 1980 — Gerald abducted Virginia Mochel (34) from the parking lot of a West Sacramento tavern where she worked as a barmaid.
• October 3, 1980 — A fisherman discovered the nude decomposed remains of Virginia Mochel near Clarksburg.
• November 2, 1980 — Gerald abducted Craig Miller (22) and Mary Elizabeth Sowers; he pointed a .25 caliber Beretta, ordered them into the car, shot Craig at point-blank range in the back of the head, then fired two more shots into Craig’s head; he ordered Charlene to drive to their apartment; Gerald raped Mary Elizabeth Sowers for hours; he then ordered Charlene to drive to a rural area and shot Mary Elizabeth Sowers three times at point blank range.
• November 3, 1980 — After one call for money, Gerald skipped town with his wife using Charlene to phone home for money on November 3.
• November 17, 1980 — Federal agents were waiting when the suspects called for their money at Western Union.
• mid-1982 — Charlene gave it up in mid-1982, turning state's evidence in return for a maximum sentence of sixteen and a half years in prison.
• February 1983 — Gerald’s four-month trial in Sacramento ended with his conviction and sentence of death in April 1983; (trial timing in narrative indicated as ending in April 1983).
• April 1983 — Gerald was sentenced to death in California for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers; following conviction, he was transferred to Nevada for trial in the Chipman and Redican murders.
• June 21, 1983 — Gerald was sentenced to death in California for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers.
• Late 1983 — A Sacramento County Superior Court judge dropped charges against Charlene in the Miller and Sowers deaths.
• May 23, 1984 — Gerald’s second trial began in Pershing County, Nevada.
• 1984 — Gerald was convicted of two more counts of murder, plus two of kidnapping, and was sentenced to death a second time; additionally, he was found guilty for the murders of Twiggs and Redican.
• November 18, 1991 — A Nevada petition for writ of habeas corpus was dismissed on November 18, 1991.
• June 8, 1988 — The United States Supreme Court decided they would not review an appeal submitted by Gerald Gallego.
• September 15, 1993 — Gerald filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court raising 40 claims for relief.
• 1997 — A federal appeals court ruled that his Nevada death sentence was invalid; the rule followed an issue regarding the jury instruction on executive clemency.
• July 1997 — Charlene Gallego was released from a Nevada prison in July 1997.
• March 22, 1999 — A competency hearing was held to determine the mental state of Gerald Gallego.
• 1999 — The death sentence in Nevada was overturned; he won the right to a new sentencing hearing, but the new jury also sentenced him to death again.
• November 1999 — Their remains were not discovered until November 1999 by a tractor operator; later, DNA testing proved that two bodies found in Lassen County in late 1999 were those of Brenda Judd and Sandra Colley.
• July 18, 2002 — Gerald Gallego died of rectal cancer at the Nevada prison system's medical center; he had been moved from Ely State Prison’s death row to the medical center in March.

The offence

Gerald Armond Gallego and Charlene Adelle Gallego killed a total of 10 victims, mostly teenagers, in the Sacramento, California area between 1978 and 1980.

Victims and conduct

• Rhonda Scheffler (17) and Kippi Vaught (16) were abducted after Charlene picked them up and put them in the back of the van. Gerald repeatedly raped them throughout the night in Baxter, California. The next day, the Gallegos drove to Sloughhouse; Gerald got Rhonda and Kippi out of the van; he made them walk into a field to a ditch where he hit Kippi first with a tire iron and then swung and hit Rhonda; he shot each girl in the head with a .25 caliber pistol. After Kippi moved because the bullet had only grazed her skull, he returned and shot her three more times in the head.
• Brenda Judd (14) and Sandra Colley (13) were lured into the Gallegos' van at the Washoe County Fair in Nevada on June 24, 1979 on the promise of making some money delivering leaflets. Gerald repeatedly raped the girls while Charlene watched in the rearview mirror. Charlene parked the van in a desolate area known as Humboldt Sink. In the following hours, Gerald forced sexual acts on the girls. Gerald then took a shovel and pulled Colley out of the vehicle, marching her toward a dry creek bed, stepped behind her, and swung the shovel. He then beat Judd to death and dug a deep hole, folding the naked bodies of the two girls into it and placing a rock over the grave. Their remains were discovered in November 1999.
• Stacey Redican and Karen Chipman Twiggs were kidnapped from Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights on April 24, 1980. As with other victims, they were sexually abused and killed.
• Linda Aguilar (21) was abducted from the parking lot of a location where she worked and was four months pregnant. Gerald raped her, beat her over the head with a rock, strangled her corpse, and dumped her body. German tourists discovered her body on June 22, 1980, and an autopsy later determined she had awakened after captors left and suffocated in the sand during her panic and struggle to get free.
• Virginia Mochel (34) was abducted on July 17, 1980 as she walked from a tavern where she worked as a barmaid. Gerald raped her and she begged him to kill her. He strangled her and dumped her body by a pond. A fisherman discovered her remains on October 3, 1980 near Clarksburg.
• Craig Miller (22) and Mary Elizabeth Sowers (21) were killed after being ordered into a vehicle at gunpoint during the early morning hours of November 2, 1980. Gerald shot Craig multiple times including a point-blank shot into the back of the head; he then ordered Charlene to drive to an apartment where he raped Mary Elizabeth Sowers for hours, and then ordered her out of the car again at a rural area where he shot her three times at point blank range.
• The narrative also included reference to an unborn child (in connection with Linda Aguilar’s pregnancy).

Investigation and evidence

Friends of Craig Miller observed the couple get into the vehicle and wrote down the license plate number. Police questioned Charlene and obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and house. Investigators found substantial evidence such as bullet casings and other suspicious tools.

In relation to the Nevada case, Charlene led investigators to a ball of white macramé rope in Gerald’s car. The rope matched that found binding the hands of the bodies of Redican and Twiggs.

The medical and forensic narrative included that skeletal remains found in Lassen County, California were confirmed by DNA testing to be those of Brenda Judd (14) and Sandra Colley (13).

Arrest and apprehension

Gerald and Charlene fled after the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Elizabeth Sowers. After Gerald disappeared quickly leaving Charlene to deal with investigators' questions, they drove to Reno where they ditched the Olds and boarded a bus for Salt Lake City. They continued calling for money; agents were waiting at Western Union in Omaha, Nebraska, and picked up the couple without a struggle.

Trial

California trial

Gerald Gallego was tried for murder in California for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers. In exchange for testimony, Charlene was not charged in California and agreed to plead guilty to murder and receive a sentence of sixteen years and eight months in Nevada.

Gerald was convicted in California and was sentenced to death in April 1983 for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers.

Nevada trial

Following the California trial, Gerald was charged in Nevada with the murders of Stacey Redican, Karen Twiggs, Brenda Judd and Sandra Colley. Because the bodies for Judd and Colley had not been found, the State’s best evidence was in the Redican/Twiggs case. Gerald’s second trial began on May 23, 1984 in Pershing County, Nevada. He let a public defender, Gary Marr, handle his case. The jury returned a guilty verdict after two and a half hours, and Gerald was sentenced to death again.

Death sentence in both states

Gerald was sentenced to death in both California and Nevada.

Sentencing

• California: Gerald was sentenced to death for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers.
• Nevada: Gerald was sentenced to death after convictions for additional counts of murder and kidnapping.

Appeals and post-conviction

Gerald pursued appeals while on death row.

• In February 2001, Gerald appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court that his constitutional right to represent himself at trial was violated when self-representation was denied at his 1999 penalty hearing. Attorney Brent Kolvet told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Gerald wanted someone other than Public Defender Steven McGuire to represent him and that Gerald was not cooperative during the penalty hearing.
• The death sentence in Nevada was overturned in 1999 and he was given a right to a new sentencing hearing; the new jury also sentenced him to death.
• A competency hearing occurred on March 22, 1999.
• The United States Supreme Court decided on June 8, 1988 that it would not review an appeal submitted by Gerald Gallego.
• In 1989, a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court was dismissed without prejudice to re-file.
• In 1990, a state petition for writ of habeas corpus in the 7th Judicial District Court in White Pine County was dismissed on November 18, 1991.
• The Nevada Supreme Court dismissed a subsequent appeal in 1992, and a request for rehearing was denied.
• In May 1993, a request for review by the United States Supreme Court was denied; Gerald then appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
• On appeal, the Ninth Circuit upheld Judge Howard McKibben on all grounds except one issue regarding executive clemency jury instructions, and held that the jury was inadequately informed on whether it was necessary to sentence Gallego to death in Nevada to ensure he could not be released after serving only a relatively brief period.
• In 1997, a federal appeals court ruled that his Nevada death sentence was invalid because the judge wrongly suggested to the jury that Gerald might eventually be paroled if he was spared execution.
• The Nebraska of filings included that his death sentence remained on the verdict after resentencing.

Outcome

Gerald Gallego died of rectal cancer on July 18, 2002 at the Nevada prison system's medical center. He had been moved from Ely State Prison’s death row to the medical center in March. The cause of death included rectal cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs. The medical director described him as a “very quiet individual. He was very reasonable about no extra treatment or resuscitation efforts.” Gerald made no final statements, had no visitors, and was heavily sedated when he died.

Other details

People and aliases

• Charlene Adelle Gallego later was released and is described as known since the mid-80s by her maiden name of Charlene Williams.
• During the events described, Charlene also used “Mrs. Stephen Styles” as a name and Gerald used aliases including Stephen Feil and Stephen Robert Feil.
• Gerald and Charlene had a daughter Krista, who filed charges of incest, sodomy, oral copulation, and unlawful intercourse against her father on September 27, 1978.

Marriages

Gerald was married multiple times, and his marriages were described in narrative as including a wife named Krista’s mother in December 1963 (Gerald married his first wife when he was 16 and she was 21), a marriage on July 12, 1966, a third marriage on October 14, 1967, a fourth marriage in March 1969 to Harriette (19-year-old, pregnant by the time their marriage ended less than a month after it began), and a fifth marriage on October 5, 1974 to a 19-year-old laundry worker; later Gerald met Charlene Adell Williams in the fall of 1977 at a poker club in Sacramento. Gerald and Charlene were wed on September 30, 1978, and later married again on June 1, 1980.

Criminal history (as described in narrative)

Gerald’s criminal record was described as including burglary and sex offenses at age six, juvenile probation for burglary, lewd and lascivious acts with a six-year-old girl, juvenile placement in a boy’s school in 1959, and parole in July 1961. He was described as being arrested with his half brother David Hunt for armed robbery and sentenced to the Preston School of Industry in Ione, California, escaping shortly after beginning sentence and later turning himself in, then being paroled in 1963.

The narrative also stated that outstanding warrants called for his arrest on charges that included incest, rape, and sodomy.

Example quotations preserved verbatim

• Gerald told Charlene: “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.”
• Charlene’s later statement included: “I mean, like it was easy and fun and we really enjoyed it, so why shouldn't we do it?”
• Gerald told the court in a conversation: “I want a girl! Get up!”
• Gerald told Charlene: “I’m getting that feeling”
• Gerald said during his cross-examination: “Mrs. Gallego,” he said, “isn't the bottom line of your deal to blame both these murders on me to save yourself?”
• Charlene responded: “No it is not!!!”
• Dr. David V. Foster was quoted describing behavior and mental state: “inhibit his ability to plan, problem-solve, comprehend and make judgments.”
• Dr. David V. Foster described behavior as “a delusion that there's a herd of people from the dark side who are his enemy.”
• The medical director described Gerald at death: “very quiet individual. He was very reasonable about no extra treatment or resuscitation efforts.”