Life sentence expected in Bechler case

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Eric Bechler, the 33-year-old man from Newport

Heights found guilty of murdering his wife during a boating trip in 1997,

is expected to be sentenced to life in prison Friday morning.

On Feb. 1, a 12-member jury found Bechler guilty of first-degree

murder. Prosecutors said he killed Pegye Bechler, his 38-year-old wife,

by bludgeoning her during their anniversary cruise off the Newport Beach

coast and then dumping her body in the ocean.

Bechler consistently denied all charges and testified in his own

defense. He said his wife was swept underwater by a giant wave as she

drove their rented speedboat while towing him on a bodyboard. Her body

was never found.

Jurors found Bechler guilty of one special circumstance of “lying in

wait,” which means he executed a sudden attack on his wife.

But they acquitted him of another alleged special circumstance that he

murdered for financial gain. The prosecution had argued that Bechler

wanted to cash in on his wife’s $2.5-million life insurance policy.

After Friday’s sentencing by Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank

F. Fasel, Bechler will probably spend the rest of his life in prison

without the possibility of parole.

Pegye Bechler’s family, based in Dexter, N.M., is preparing to speak

at the sentencing, the only chance they will get to address Bechler in

public.

Pegye Bechler’s brother, Larry Marshall, said putting powerful

feelings and emotions into words has been a “tearful and gut-wrenching

experience.”

“It’s been quite an experience merely to revisit our feelings and

thoughts,” he said, in a telephone interview from Dexter on Wednesday.

“She was my sister,” he added. “The feelings run very deep.”

Marshall said he, his mother, June Marshall, and sister Kim Marshall

are planning to speak at Friday’s sentencing.

Bechler’s family is determined to appeal the jury’s verdict, his

attorney John Barnett said this week. An appeal will be filed within 60

days of the sentencing, he said.

Barnett had said the appeal will be based on the argument that a

California court has no jurisdiction to rule on an incident that happened

in federal or international waters.

Another part of the appeal is the “corpus” issue -- a “body of

evidence” that could be negated because of lack of proof that a crime was

committed.