MAN CONVICTED IN FATAL SHOOTING : RETALIATORY SLAYING OF WOMAN MAKES WOODLAND HILLS KILLER ELIGIBLE FOR DEATH PENALTY.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer Jurors convicted a Woodland Hills man Tuesday of murder in the retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and slaying of his former girlfriend and will next consider whether he should die for the crime. After deliberating less than a day, the four-woman, eight-man Superior Court jury found Mark Bowersock, 40, guilty of fatally fa·tal·ly adv. 1. So as to cause death; mortally: fatally injured. 2. So as to result in disaster or ruin. 3. According to the decree of fate; inevitably. Adv. 1. shooting Laurel Prejean, 36, in retaliation for testimony in which she accused him of beating her. Bowersock sat emotionless e·mo·tion·less adj. Devoid of emotion; impassive. e·mo  tion·less·ness n.Adj. 1. , staring straight ahead as the jury's verdicts were announced. Prejean's sister, Terri Hansen, cheered and clapped, while Prejean's parents were moved to tears. ``I prayed I beg; I request; I entreat you; - used in asking a question, making a request, introducing a petition, etc.; as, Pray, allow me to go s>. See also: Pray every day that the jury would give us justice,'' said Kathryn Emery emery: see corundum. emery Granular rock consisting of a mixture of the mineral corundum (aluminum oxide, Al2O3) and iron oxides such as magnetite (Fe3O4) or hematite (Fe2O3). , Prejean's mother, who attended every day of the trial with her husband. ``She was a lovely, caring daughter. ``He took something away from me - a child is something God gives you - I could never forgive him for that.'' In addition to finding guilt on the murder charge, the jury sustained a special circumstance that the killing was committed in retaliation for her testimony - a finding that makes Bowersock eligible for the death penalty. Superior Court Judge Judith Meisels Ashmann ordered the jury to return Thursday for the trial's penalty phase. Deputy District Attorney Susan Chasworth said she will ask the jury to recommend the death penalty as Bowersock's sentence. Bowersock could get life in prison. Outside court, Bowersock's public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was , Charles Klum, said he was disappointed with the verdicts. ``But I am prepared to go forward,'' Klum said. ``It will be an opportunity to present a different side of him.'' Prosecutors argued that Bowersock hunted Prejean down at her sister's Seco Canyon home, then fired two bullets into her Feb. 3, 1995 as she talked on the phone. The killing occurred just five days after Prejean, testifying in a probation hearing for Bowersock in an earlier domestic violence case, said that Bowersock had beaten her. Chasworth said the strongest piece of evidence against Bowersock was the testimony from a nurse who was on the phone with Prejean moments before she was killed. The nurse testified that while on the phone with Prejean, she heard Prejean suddenly scream, ``Oh God, no. Oh God,'' then two gunshots, and finally Prejean's last breaths. ``It was just so clear from what she heard on the phone that this was a deliberate act,'' said Chasworth. ``Whoever it was that was in that house was on a mission.'' Bowersock testified the gun discharged accidentally during a violent struggle after he walked into Hansen's home carrying Prejean's mail. Bowersock testified that he hired a private investigator to find Prejean so he could take legal action against her because he believed she had stolen things from him while he was in jail. He said he had found Prejean's tax papers at their former residence and on the ``spur of the moment "<B>Spur of the Moment</B>" is an episode of the American television anthology series <em>The Twilight Zone</em>. <H2>Details</H2>*Episode number: 141*Season: 5*Production code: 2608*Original air date: February 21, 1964*Writer: Richard ,'' decided to take an $82.50 cab ride to Hansen's Saugus home to drop off Prejean's mail, even though they both had restraining orders restraining order: see injunction. to stay at least nine feet away from each other. On the day Prejean was killed, Bowersock sold his truck, took the cab to where Prejean lived, waited for her to return to the house, then walked in while she was on the phone. He said it was she who went for a gun and he was trying to disarm her without hurting her, then accidentally shot her twice. After he killed her, Bowersock stole her car, drove it to the Van Nuys Flyaway fly·a·way adj. 1. Made or worn loose or draped, as to allow or suggest fluttering in the wind: a flyaway coat; long, flyaway hair. 2. a. , boarded a bus for Arizona where he buried the murder weapon with the help of a friend, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. testimony. Then several days later he gave the media several interviews before he turned himself in to authorities. ``I was waiting to see some remorse Remorse See also Regret. Ayenbite of Inwit (Remorse of Conscience) Middle English version of medieval moral treatise, c. 1340. [Br. Lit. , but I never ever saw it in him,'' said Emery, who said her family wants the death penalty for Bowersock. ``I can't understand people like that.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Mark Bowersock Emotionless during verdicts |
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