Jurors began deliberating the fate of a Georgia man charged with killing a Santa Maria woman in 1988 after DNA connected him to the victim and her home, although his attorney argued that it didn’t prove that Aloysius Winthrop James committed the crime.
James, 58, of Georgia has been charged in connection with the death of Ofelia Sandoval, a mother of three, at the Town Center Hotel on the 200 block of North Broadway on Sept. 18, 1988. The hotel was demolished after being severely damaged in a 2013 fire.
After closing arguments, the Santa Barbara County Superior Court jury began weighing whether enough evidence exists to convict James of first-degree murder. He also faces a special circumstance, or sentencing enhancement, that the killing occurred during the commission of a rape…