Mass Murderer Juan Corona Denied Parole
Parole was denied Monday for Juan Corona, convicted of the murders of 25 itinerant farm workers more than two decades ago.
A three-member parole board told Corona “you pose an unreasonable risk and danger to others if you were granted parole.”
As a result, Corona will not be eligible for another parole hearing for five years.
As he has in the past, Corona denied committing the murders.
Corona, 59, has been convicted twice of slaying men whose bodies were found buried in peach orchards in 1971 near Yuba City, 125 miles northeast of San Francisco. It was then considered the worst mass murder in U.S. history, a ranking now held by John Wayne Gacy Jr., who is on Death Row in Illinois for 33 killings.
A motive never was clear for Corona’s killings, in which all but one of the men’s heads were slashed or chopped open. In Corona’s home, investigators found a machete with an 18-inch blade, a meat cleaver, a double-bladed ax and a wooden club, all bloodstained. They also discovered a ledger book containing seven of the victims’ names.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
