SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A 64-year-old prison inmate has been sentenced to death for the 1980 murders of two students at the University of California, Davis.
A Sacramento County Superior Court judge on Friday issued the death penalty to Richard Hirschfield, who was found guilty in November of the "sweetheart murders."
Hirschfield was convicted for abducting and killing John Riggins and Sabrina Gonsalves. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting Gonsalves.
The victims were 18-year-old college freshmen when they were kidnapped and killed on Dec. 20, 1980. Their bodies were discovered two days later about 30 miles away.
Prosecutors say they were tortured, their heads were wrapped in duct tape and their throats were slashed.
Hirschfield was in a Washington state prison for child rape eight years ago when investigators matched his DNA to evidence from Riggins' van.
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