Editorial

These days, there’s probably no more chilling words for killers and

hoods to hear than the following six words:

“Debora Lloyd will be prosecuting you.”

Lloyd has developed a stunning track record of success that must leave

bad guys shuddering in fear.

Indeed, Lloyd has a special place in the hearts of Daily Pilot

employees after she successfully prosecuted the killer of our longtime

and beloved co-worker Donna Jacobson in May of 1998.

Thus it was with great pleasure that we learned she was selected for

the state’s Prosecutor of the Year award by the California District

Attorneys Assn.

A Costa Mesa resident who has been a deputy district attorney since

1985, Lloyd won back-to-back first-degree murder trials within a year’s

time.

The first came with the conviction of Steven Allen Abrams, notorious

for deliberately aiming his Cadillac at innocent children at play at a

local preschool and killing two of them.

The second came with Eric Bechler, the suave Newport Beach volleyball

player who killed his wife at sea during an anniversary boat outing and

dropped her body, which has never been found, overboard.

All three of those cases were rife with emotion and drama, and all

three were handled by Lloyd with the utmost in professionalism and

compassion for the families of the victims.

“She is an exceptionally hard-working and dedicated and good woman,”

said Pam Wiener, the mother of 3-year-old Brandon, a victim of Abrams’

vicious assault. “Throughout the trial, she was very supportive, and we

just felt confident and knew she was there for us.”

In the case of Bechler, she was able to secure a conviction against

all odds, prosecuting a man for first-degree murder without a body -- a

difficult hurdle for any prosecutor to overcome.

To Lloyd, we say thanks for a job well done.

We’re sure we speak for the Newport-Mesa majority when we say we are

proud to have you on our side and proud to have you as a member of this

community.