Celeste Carrington

Case identifiers

Celeste Carrington

Background

Celeste Simone Carrington was Black and was 30 at the time of the crimes. She had no criminal record before the murders.

Carrington was raised in poverty in Philadelphia. She had been abused by both parents and had been impregnated by her father at age 14, according to defense testimony. She eventually attended a community college in Southern California and competed internationally in the shot put.

She had been fired from her job as a janitor in December 1991 for stealing checks. Witnesses at her trial said she had been providing financial support for her partner and the woman’s three children.

The offence

Carrington committed murders “during burglaries.” She fatally shot Victor Esparza, 34, a janitor at a shoe factory in San Carlos, in January 1992. She also fatally shot Caroline Gleason, 36, a property manager at a real estate office in Palo Alto, in another robbery two months later, which she admitted.

A third robbery victim, Allan Marks, a Redwood City pediatrician, was shot and wounded during a robbery of his office five days after Carrington killed Gleason, according to authorities. Allan Marks survived and testified against her.

Carrington told police that she had gone to all three offices with a stolen gun and keys she had kept from her work as a janitor.

Medical examiners found that Gleason was on her knees before Carrington when she was shot. They found that Esparza was either kneeling or standing, with no evidence that he was resisting.

Investigation

Carrington’s appeal included challenges to searches and interrogation practices that led to her confessions.

Her lawyers argued that Palo Alto police illegally searched her apartment and extracted her confession with false promises of leniency.

Officers from Palo Alto accompanied Los Altos police, who had a warrant to look for evidence of two burglaries. When Palo Alto police saw a key and a pager connected to Gleason’s killing in plain view, the court said they stopped the search, went back to court, and got a warrant to look for evidence of the murder.

In Monday’s ruling, Chief Justice Ronald George said that even if Palo Alto police were there on a pretext, they were entitled to be present at a legitimate burglary search and acted properly by not touching anything until they obtained another warrant.

George also said the police interrogation did not amount to promises of leniency that would make the confessions involuntary. The interrogation included statements:

“probably an accident”

“had nothing to lose by admitting to Esparza’s murder”

Trial

Carrington admitted fatally shooting Victor Esparza, 34, in January 1992 in San Carlos and Caroline Gleason, 36, in another robbery two months later in Palo Alto.

Sentencing

Carrington was sentenced on November 23, 1994. She was sentenced to death on Nov 23, 1994 for the murders of a Hispanic man aged 34 on Jan 26, 1992 in San Carlos and a Hispanic woman aged 36 on Mar 11, 1192 in Palo Alto during burglaries.

Appeals

In her appeal, her lawyers also argued that her trial defense was incompetent and said another appeal was pending.

The Supreme Court of California upheld the death sentence.

The justices unanimously rejected defense arguments that police had illegally searched her apartment and had extracted her confession with false promises of leniency.

Outcome

The California Supreme Court upheld Carrington’s death sentence.

Aftermath

Carrington was described as “one of only 15 women among 683 condemned prisoners in California.”