3 charged in PC magazine editor's death

Three men have been charged with murdering a senior editor for PC World magazine in what police said was an attempt to steal marijuana that the victim's son grew in their home for medical use.

Rex Farrance, 59, the San Francisco-based magazine's senior technical editor, was shot in the chest on Jan. 9 after masked men broke into his suburban home.

Farrance's relatives believe the killers targeted the home after learning about the marijuana from a friend of the 19-year-old son.

"Without regard to the legality of the extensive marijuana-growing operation that was taking place in the residence, we regard Mr. Farrance as an innocent victim in this case," said Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett.

Farrance's wife, Lenore Vantosh-Farrance, was pistol-whipped during the robbery but managed to call 911.

The three men charged Tuesday could face the death penalty if convicted of murder, murder in the commission of a robbery and murder in the commission of a burglary. One, Tremaine Amos, 25, of nearby Bay Point, Calif., is serving time for an unrelated conviction. The other two, Darryl Hudson and Montrell Hall, both 23 and from Pittsburg, are being tried this week for robbery in a different case.