WIFE KILLER GIVEN LIFE PRISON TERM.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - A Northridge man who stabbed his estranged wife 25 times then ran over her with his minivan pleaded no contest Monday to murder and will be sentenced to life in prison without parole under terms of a plea bargain agreement.

Samuel Duran, 54, also pleaded no contest to the special circumstance allegation of committing the murder while attempting to commit a kidnapping. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6 in North Valley Superior Court.

Duran said little to the judge during the hearing but smiled as he chatted with his attorney.

Deputy District Attorney Joe Weimortz, who prosecuted the case, said Duran has never expressed remorse for the brutal slaying.

``Two days after the murder, Duran told the police that he felt like a huge cloud was lifted, that he was at peace with himself and he never slept better,'' Weimortz said. ``In his eyes, he was justified in what he did because his wife wouldn't sign over the house to him or pay him the money he thought she owed him.''

Duran's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mitch Bruckner, said his client is willing to accept the consequences of his actions, but declined further comment.

The couple's children - Samuel Duran Jr., 24, and Donna Duran, 27 - are relieved the case has been quickly resolved without a prolonged and painful trial, Weimortz said.

``The main thing is, this gives them closure so they can in some sense go on with their lives,'' he said.

Teresa Duran, 56, was killed May 21 in front of a handful of horrified neighbors after her husband ran her off the road with his minivan, pulled her from her car and began stabbing her with a butcher knife, according to court and police records.

A few of the witnesses managed to restrain Duran briefly, and Teresa Duran ran down the street screaming for help. However, Duran broke free, chased down his wife, jumped on top of her and continued to stab her repeatedly, court records show.

Duran then returned to his minivan and ran over his wife three times as she lay along the curb on Vanalden Avenue near Schoenborn Street, just around the corner from their home, police said. Duran was arrested the following day at a Woodland Hills bank, authorities said.

Investigators believe Duran had crafted an elaborate scheme to kidnap Teresa Duran and hold her hostage until she agreed to sign over a quit claim deed to the house, Weimortz said.

Inside Duran's minivan, authorities found a seat with ropes attached to it, a pick ax, a baseball bat, a sledge hammer, and a briefcase filled with quit claim forms, according to court records.

The couple's 30-year relationship has been marred by violence, Weimortz said, adding that Teresa Duran had been hospitalized after some of the more severe beatings.

Duran also served four years in prison for assaulting a building and safety officer with a shoe, court records show. The victim had to have his eye surgically removed after the attack.

``This is a textbook case of why we have to take domestic violence cases so seriously,'' Weimortz said. ``Even though he kept telling her he was going to put her in her grave, her writings suggest that she stayed because she was always told marriage was something that had to be worked out.''