Santa Clara County’s district attorney asked a judge Friday to remove the death sentence for convicted killer Richard Farley, who was sentenced to death for the 1988 mass shooting at a South Bay company. Damian Trujillo reports.
Santa Clara County's district attorney asked a judge Friday to remove the death sentence for convicted killer Richard Farley, who was sentenced to death for the 1988 mass shooting at a South Bay company.
DA Jeff Rosen has successfully done this for most inmates sentenced to death in the county by asking instead for an adjusted sentence of life without parole.
But not everyone is on board with the change in sentence.
The family of one of the victims, Buddy Williams, on Friday spoke with NBC Bay Area on Friday to explain why they think the death sentence should stand, even if there is little chance Farley would ever be executed in California.
Williams' family said the request to remove the death sentence has opened up old, deep wounds.
"I think of Buddy every day," said Elizabeth Allen, Williams' wife. "How could I not? I never fell out of love. He was the greatest thing that happened to me. He absolutely was the love of my life."
In 1988, Farley went into ESL headquarters in Sunnyvale and opened fire in what would become one of the first mass shooting in the nation. Farley had been stalking Laura Black, a co-worker there, for four years. He killed seven people that day and wounded six others.
Williams, a newlywed, was the second man he killed.
Allen was also there that day working part-time at ESL. She heard the gunshots and has lived with the pain for almost four decades.
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"It has been quite a challenge waiting all these years for closure," Allen said.
Farley was sentenced to death in 1992.
Since then, Farley's family has been waiting for the phone to ring saying execution day has arrived.
Instead, Allen said she got a letter a few months ago indicating Rosen was going to ask a judge to remove the death sentence and instead sentence Farley to life without parole.
"I'm totally disgusted with the process," said Kathleen Vaccaro, Williams' sister. "And the method and manner in which this has been handled."
The family said it is like reliving the tragedy all over again.
"I was shocked because the cases we're talking about here are the worst murder cases over the last 40 years," former Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr said.
Carr, who is also a retired judge, has been helping victims' families in Santa Clara County.
Rosen has successfully asked judges to resentence just under a dozen death cases. Some inmates rejected the proposal.
The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office declined to comment on Friday. In court filings, Rosen wrote:
"The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishments in this country is, do we deserve to kill?"
Allen said the only person to benefit from Rosen's request is Farley, "A mass murderer. How does the justice system believe this is justice at all?"
