Two Men Sentenced in 2007 Murder Case
Two years ago, a disabled man was murdered outside a convenience store in Rancho Cordova. On Friday, October 30, a Sacramento jury convicted 19 year old Frank Abella in the torture and murder of William Deer.
Abella, who was also convicted of robbery and torture, faces life in prison with no chance of parole for the June 7, 2008 murder of Deer.
Deer, 50, was beaten to death after he purchased a cup of coffee at the 7-Eleven in the 10200 block of Mills Station Road at 2:15 a.m. Deputy District Attorney Shari Greco’s trial brief said that after Deer was beaten unconscious, Abella and another suspect, James Washington, 19, returned and shot the victim seven times in the face and 13 times in the chest and stomach with a BB gun.
Deer was found the following morning and was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead that afternoon.
Mental competency evaluations are needed before proceedings against Washington continue.
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Posted by Michelle Ventress
on Oct 31 2009. Filed under News, Public Safety.
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Does anyone see a major grammar error in the third paragraph? Perhaps it should read shot Deer not shot the Deer.
Minor. When you’ve written over a thousand stories sometimes a word gets misplaced or omitted. Odd that your comment doesn’t even address the senseless crime of these two young thugs and the failure of our community which produced them. Seems to me the community should be overjoyed that justice was served, yet saddened that our community produced these hardened criminals.
Hi Teri, I just fixed the error. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Billy Deer was well-known in Rancho and well-liked. He was a kind, gentle soul who had many, many friends. He loved music and had been at a nearby nightclub listening to a band. He often stopped at the 7-11 or a Denny’s restaurant for coffee, before going home after the band finished playing.
A former Marine, he was disabled in a motorcycle accident that left him with a metal plate in the back of his head. I spoke with several of his friends yesterday. Several of us had spoken with Billy the night he was killed. We all miss Billy and feel the loss. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. His cheerful demeanor and sense of humor made him very popular.
Please keep everyone posted when Abella gets sentenced. A life sentence ain’t long enough for these scumbags.
William Deer. Gone, but by no means forgotten. RIP.