Bechler did it

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- Eric Bechler, the debonair father of three and athletic

beach volleyball player from Newport Heights, was found guilty of

first-degree murder Thursday, marking a shocking climax to a missing-body

murder case that has intrigued the community for 3 1/2 years.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 30 hours over seven

days before convicting Bechler, 33, of murdering his 38-year-old wife,

Pegye, during a boating trip in July 1997. He faces life without the

possibility of parole after he is sentenced March 16.

Jurors also found Bechler guilty of a special circumstance of “lying

in wait,” and determined that he attacked her suddenly in an unsuspecting

moment. Jurors, however, acquitted Bechler of a charge that he murdered

for financial gain.

Prosecutors had argued that Bechler wanted to get his hands on his

wife’s life insurance policies worth $2.5 million. Bechler had

continually denied those charges and claimed that his wife, an expert

swimmer and triathlete, was swept underwater by a large wave when she was

driving their rented 18-foot speedboat while towing him on a bodyboard.

Her body was never found.

On Thursday, Pegye Bechler’s mother, June Marshall, reacted instantly,

bending down and weeping softly, when the verdict was read in the packed

courtroom at about 11 a.m. Pegye’s sisters and best friend Glenda Mason

also turned around to comfort each other, tears glistening in their eyes.

Members of Pegye Bechler’s family said they were too overwhelmed and

emotional even to talk or comment.

“We’ve been devastated for 3 1/2 years” Marshall said as she tried to

hold back tears. “It’s been really hard. . . . We just have to keep

dealing with this.”

Bechler showed no reaction as he sat staring straight ahead as the

verdict was read. His mother, Linda Bechler, who sat outside the

courtroom all seven days during jury deliberations, was comforted by her

family members. She said she believes the jury came out with the “wrong

verdict.”

She criticized her son’s former girlfriend Tina New, who cooperated

with investigators to secretly record her conversations with Bechler in a

crowded restaurant when he admitted to the murder. Bechler was arrested

that night in October 1999.

“We all know what Tina New is,” Linda Bechler said Thursday. “It goes

without saying.”

Eric Bechler’s aunt Gail Bechler said she believes her nephew is

innocent and that she feels sorry for his three children.

“They lost their mother. Now they’ve lost their father,” she said.

“We’re shocked.”

Jurors said it was one of the most difficult decisions they have ever

made. A male juror who identified himself only as “Cesar” said the trial

was not as emotional for him as it was difficult.

“None of us was convinced right away when we started, deliberating, he

said. “The first day we started, I said to myself that this guy is

innocent.”

Most jurors had a problem with the lack of physical evidence in the

case, he said.

But, he added, Bechler’s surreptitiously recorded conversations with

New was “telling evidence.”

“For me, what did it was [Bechler’s] best friend saying that he talked

to him about killing his wife,” the juror said.

Kobi Laker, Bechler’s friend and best man at his wedding, testified

that Bechler asked him four months before Pegye’s murder, “What do you

think about the possibility of killing my wife?”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lloyd said she was “very concerned” to see

jurors deliberate so long. Lloyd said she was confident the prosecution

had enough evidence that they could have pulled through even without Tina

New, who was considered to be their star witness.

“I had 50 witnesses lined up,” she said. “I think of [Pegye’s family]

and the possibility that Eric Bechler could have gotten away with the

kids and the money. I’m glad that didn’t happen.”

Despite the jury’s decision, Lloyd said she believed Bechler “did it

for the money.”

“He’s got the life insurance policy he deserves,” she said.

Defense attorney John Barnett, who had argued that Bechler made up the

story of murder to impress New, said he thought “it would be difficult

for the jury to reach a decision.

“There was a lot of evidence, but it was complicated,” he said. He

will file an appeal on behalf of Bechler based on jurisdiction issues,

Barnett said.

Barnett had submitted a motion earlier this month stating that a

California court did not have the jurisdiction in this case because,

according to the prosecution’s theory, the incident took place eight

miles off the Newport Beach coast. California’s jurisdiction ends less

than four miles from the coast. The motion was denied by Superior Court

Judge Frank F. Fasel.

Pegye Bechler’s best friend, Glenda Mason, said it has been a long and

emotional trial.

“Personally, I feel a sense of closure,” said Mason, who introduced

Pegye to Eric Bechler on the sands of Newport Beach eight years ago.

Talking about Bechler’s lack of reaction, Mason said she is not

surprised.

“That’s Eric,” she said. “That’s what he was . . . and I’m glad Eric

is where he should be.”

Jamie Sue Franchini, a friend of the Marshalls, let out a whoop of joy

over the phone as she spoke from her home in Roswell, N.M. Pegye Bechler

grew up in nearby the nearby town of Dexter.

“We’ve been so frightened because the jury was out for so long,” she

said. “I’m so relieved for the family, for [Pegye’s parents]. This will

help them get on with their lives.”