Man sentenced to life in prison in three area murders
A man charged with the violent murders of three men was sentenced today to life in state prison, after a Superior Court judge denied his attempt to back out of a plea bargain that helped him avoid the death penalty.
Defendant Christopher Richard Lanteigne, 29, and co-defendants Camille Vredenburg, 27, and Christopher Weaver, 32, pleaded guilty as part of a package deal for their roles in a 2004 series of crimes, including the murders, that extended from San Bernardino to the San Gorgonio Pass.
On Mar. 5, Lanteigne and Weaver pleaded guilty to three counts of murder - as part of a plea bargain package - in the deaths of Scott Fisher, 42, of San Bernardino, Clayton McCobb, 44, of Ramona and Kareem Mohammed Radwan, 26, of Loma Linda. But Lanteigne later changed his mind.
Sean O'Connor, a lawyer representing Lanteigne only his attempt to withdraw from the plea bargain, argued today before the court that the agreement was procedurely deficient and that his client was not competent at the time he signed it because he was overmedicated.
But Judge Brian McCarville denied the defense motion and immediately sentenced Lanteigne. Family members of the victims filled several rows of the courtroom in San Bernardino Superior Court, some of them sobbing as their impact statements were read aloud in court.
If the case had gone to trial, Lanteigne and Weaver could have faced the death penalty if they were convicted.
Also in the package deal, Vredenburg pleaded guilty the same day to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for her role in two of the deaths. She was sentenced today to six years in state prison, with credit for time she has already served since 2004.
Vredenburg's lawyer, Gregory Pike, estimated she could be released from custody in about four months, followed by an estimated three to four years of parole.
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