Wife Found Guilty of Murder

A woman accused of shooting her husband last year after a heated argument was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder.

Gia McLain, 45, of Orange sat impassively as Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr. read the verdict of the jury of nine women and three men.

She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 20.

Outside the court in Santa Ana, family members of Fred McLain, the victim, thanked the jurors and the prosecution for their efforts during the two-week trial.

“I believe justice has been served, and that’s all we could hope for,” said Monika McLain, the victim’s ex-wife.

According to the prosecution and police, Gia McLain shot her husband of two years on Sept. 13, 1997. The incident happened shortly after midnight when the couple returned from an evening out at a bowling alley and karaoke bar. Both had been drinking, Orange Police Sgt. John C. Richard said. During their drive home, the couple got into an argument that continued after they arrived, police and prosecutors said.

Deputy District Attorney Lewis R. Rosenblum, who prosecuted the case, said McLain testified during the trial that her husband abused her regularly.

“Her claim was that he was pulling her hair” as they drove home that night, Rosenblum said. “She reached a point where she could not take it anymore. She said he had beaten her and threatened her.”

McLain took out a .357 Magnum revolver that the couple kept in the house and shot her husband once in the head, killing him instantly, Richard said.

A housemate of the couple testified in court that the McLains had been having problems, but police said there had been no reports of domestic abuse, and neither had a police record.

Rosenblum argued that McLain was guilty of premeditated murder because she twice threatened to shoot her husband before she finally pulled the trigger.

But Assistant Public Defender Douglas Lobato said his client was guilty only of voluntary manslaughter because she believed that her life was in danger.

“This is just one of those things where it is a tragedy and somebody has to go to prison for it,” Lobato said after Monday’s verdict.

Outside the courtroom, one juror said she felt sorry for defendant.

“Sometimes you can have misplaced compassion,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “But we didn’t get to see Fred in court to hear his side of the story.”

“I guess at one point she was tired of it all, but we all get tired at one point,” another juror said.