Judge Rejects Plea of Ignorance : Driver Gets 36-Year Term in Robbery-Murder Case

A Sepulveda man who the judge said was “chauffeuring the wheels of death” on the night that one of his companions murdered a Sylmar motel manager was sentenced Wednesday to 36 years to life in state prison.

Chester Longmire, 26, was convicted by a San Fernando Superior Court jury in September of first-degree murder, attempted murder and six counts of robbery for acting as the driver during an all-night robbery rampage on July 22, 1982.

According to trial testimony, Longmire’s two companions, J. D. Adams Jr. and James Jennings, robbed Sylmar Motel 6 manager Kenneth Holbrook and his wife, Clyda, before Adams stabbed the couple in the back.

Survived to Testify

Clyda Holbrook, 58, survived to testify against Adams. Her husband died shortly after the attack.

Adams and Longmire also were charged with the attempted robbery and murder of Joseph Gulvas, a Hollywood man who was stabbed in the back late on July 22 as he was walking home from a restaurant. Jurors could not reach a verdict on those charges.

Longmire’s attorney, Douglas Young, argued during the sentencing hearing that his client did not know what Adams and Jennings were doing when he let them out of the car at several locations in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood during the course of the evening.

Judge John H. Major, however, read from the transcript of a taped interview with Longmire in which he told police he drove Adams to two other robberies during the week before the July 23 stabbings. Longmire told police that Adams was armed with a knife during those robberies.

‘Knew Nothing About It’

“He tells you he knew nothing about it and he’s being treated unfairly,” Major said. “The reality is that the people who were treated unfairly are the victims in this case.

Adams was convicted of the same charges as Longmire, but with “special circumstances,” meaning he will be sentenced either to death or life in prison without possibility of parole.

In an arrangement with prosecutors, Jennings pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced last month to 25 years to life in prison. During his testimony against Longmire and Adams, Jennings admitted helping Adams commit several robberies, but said he left the scene before any of the victims were injured.