MAN GETS LIFE TERM WITHOUT PAROLE IN POT-LINKED SLAYING

But Another Wins A Sentencing Delay To Find A Witness.

David Trujillo was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for
the murder of Riley Haeling in an attempted marijuana robbery in a Fair
Oaks home.

But the long-running case -- which has featured two trials before three
juries in Sacramento Superior Court -- is not over.

Ronald M. Werth, who was convicted of being the second gunman in the 1998
slaying, won a sentencing delay at the request of his attorney, Ronald S.
Castro.

He sought a postponement on various grounds, including that his
investigator needed more time to find an elusive witness who, according to
Castro, may prove Werth's innocence.

"I'm very disappointed that this motion is made so belatedly, after all
these people have been traveling to be present here," Judge Richard K. Park
said in the nearly full court. He set Dec. 20 as Werth's new sentencing day.

Only new and compelling evidence will prevent Werth from getting life in
prison without parole that day, the judge indicated.

Dan Salmon, whose sister, Jennifer, was wounded in the incident that
claimed Haeling's life, expressed his feelings about the delay.

"Bull----!" he shouted as spectators rose to leave. Salmon, 23, was warned
by a deputy against further outbursts.

"Everybody knows these guys have been guilty for over two years," an
outraged Dan Salmon said outside the court.

Prosecutor Mark Curry was dismissive of Castro's remarks about the missing
witness, saying outside the court, "I don't know what he's talking about."

Even if the "mystery witness" is found, Werth's murder conviction will
stand, Curry predicted.

Haeling, 18, was shot five times Oct. 6, 1998, as he used his body to
protect Jennifer Salmon, then 15, from intruders who burst into her
family's home. She was shot twice but survived.

Curry said the men were trying to steal medical marijuana grown at the home.

Two other men, David Quindt and Anthony Salcedo, were tried in late 1999
for Haeling's murder. A mistrial was declared against Salcedo, and Quindt
was convicted of murder -- partly because Jennifer Salmon wrongly
identified him as one of the gunmen.

However, that verdict was tossed out in May 2000, and charges were dropped
against Salcedo after an new investigation confirmed that two innocent men
had been tried.

That May, three new suspects were charged with Haeling's murder: Werth,
Trujillo and John L. Fjelstad, all 20 at the time.

Fjelstad agreed to testify against the others in exchange for a maximum
penalty of 19 years for his role in Haeling's and an unrelated death in
1997. Werth and Trujillo were tried before separate juries in September.

In a tape-recorded confession that was heard by his jury but not Werth's,
Trujillo said that at about 2 a.m. the day Haeling was killed, the trio
decided to force their way into the Salmon home, looking for marijuana that
had been in the back yard the previous day.

Once inside, Trujillo said, he fired a .38-caliber handgun at Haeling.
Three of the bullets that hit Haeling were from a .38 and at least one was
believed to be from a 9 mm pistol, Curry said. Fjelstad told jurors that
Werth had used a 9 mm pistol that night.

Werth said through his attorney that he was not at the scene of the crime.

In convicting both men, jurors found that the crime involved special
circumstances.