BOUCK MAY FACE 2ND MURDER TRIAL; PROSECUTORS LOOKING AT STEPSON'S DEATH IN '72.

Byline: Stacy Brown Daily News Staff Writer

As a judge in Van Nuys ponders the sentence for a Canyon Country man who admitted killing his wife, prosecutors are urging officials in Colorado to open another murder case, charging the man with suffocating his 4-year-old stepson 25 years ago.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jeff Jonas said Wednesday that he has been in contact with prosecutors in Denver to pass on evidence in the 1972 case. Guy Dean Bouck was a suspect in killing Michael Gennaro Kelly, but was never charged for lack of evidence.

Jonas said he believes Bouck pleaded guilty in the 10-year-old murder of his wife, Stephanie, to avoid a trial and the scrutiny of evidence in the older slaying.

``I think that's why he plea-bargained. He didn't want this evidence to come out,'' Jonas said. ``We were prepared to prove that he killed Kelly. We are currently working with prosecutors there and hopefully they'll file charges soon.''

Bouck's attorneys refused comment on the Denver case.

On Wednesday, Bouck was found guilty of three special circumstances in the 1987 slaying of Stephanie Bouck, making him eligible for a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.

After two weeks of testimony in the sentencing hearing, a judge in Van Nuys Superior Court ruled that Bouck was lying in wait when he shot and killed his wife at their home in Canyon Country.

Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt also ruled that Bouck willfully inflicted torture upon his wife and killed her for financial gain. A fourth circumstance, sexual assault, was not upheld.

Stephanie Bouck was the sister of Jack Shine, who developed the American Beauty tracts and other neighborhoods in Canyon Country. Since his sister's death, Shine spent nearly $800,000 in a civil suit to block Bouck from inheriting any part of her estate.

``I am pleased that the judge vindicated Jack Shine, the grand jury and its indictment, but it was a hollow victory because you're talking about someone's life,'' Jonas said.

Under a plea bargain, Bouck faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or a sentence that could free him in 25 years.

Bouck initially was arrested Jan. 4, 1987, a day after his wife's body was found. But prosecutors ordered him released, citing a lack of evidence.

And his then-girlfriend told authorities that Bouck was with her at the time of the murder. But following the bitter civil trial filed by Stephanie Bouck's family, the girlfriend testified that Bouck raped her and then she admitted she had provided a false alibi for him.

Prosecutors reopened the case and formally charged Bouck with the murder. ``I was astounded that he pleaded, I don't know if I've ever seen anything like this before, especially in a circumstantial case,'' Jonas said.

When Bouck is sentenced, Jan. 8, prosecutors expect Shine and other family members to make a victims' impact statement.

Jonas and his colleague, Randall Muenzberg, said this case is far from over for them. ``We won't rest until he is bought to justice on the Colorado murder,'' Jonas said.