Man Gets 32 Years to Life for 2 Murders
- Share via
A 26-year-old West Hills man was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years to life in prison for the brutal murders of his two roommates after one of them refused to give him some cocaine.
Mark Jay Demand was convicted by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Raymond Mireles last month on two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 18, 1988, slayings.
The victims, Lori Elm, 18, and her boyfriend, Robert Ray Burley, 26, had been dead at least a week when their bodies were found in the house they had shared with Demand in the 7500 block of Kentland Avenue, police said. Both had been beaten with a hammer. Burley had also been stabbed several times.
Mireles on Tuesday imposed the maximum allowable sentence on Demand, despite defense attorney Howard Waco’s plea that drugs were to blame for Demand’s violent actions.
Demand asked to speak during the proceeding. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” he said. “I don’t know how it happened.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
