CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Ex-Sailor to Stand Trial for Murder

A former Lemoore Naval Air Station sailor will stand trial April 24 on a charge of murdering his bride, who tumbled 350 feet to her death down a canyon at Yosemite National Park. The trial date for Stevie Allen Gray, 24, of Hanford was set during an appearance in U.S. District Court where the case is being heard because the alleged crime occurred on federal property. Prosecutors said Gray took out life insurance policies on Dolores Guadalupe Contreras Gray, also 24, after their marriage in August, 1987. She died on Dec. 5 of that year. Gray, who pleaded innocent, sued insurance companies after they refused to pay on the policies. Gray left the service in 1988.