| For Immediate Release Case #
April 22, 2010 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
25-YEAR-OLD MAN INDICTED FOR
RAPING, TORTURING, STABBING, AND MURDERING 84-YEAR-OLD WIDOW AFTER BREAKING IN
THROUGH BROKEN WINDOW
SANTA ANA – A 25-year-old man was indicted today for murdering an 84-year-old woman after breaking into her home and raping, torturing, and stabbing her before stealing her car. Anthony Darnell Wade, Los Angeles, was indicted on one felony count of special circumstances murder. The special circumstances include murder in the commission of rape, robbery, burglary, and murder with torture. He was also indicted on one felony count each of elder abuse, first degree robbery, first degree residential burglary, torture, forcible rape, the unlawful taking of a vehicle, and sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury to an elder.
The special circumstances in this case make Wade eligible for the death penalty. The defendant is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment May 5, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office released a press release on Jan. 11, 2010, with the following details:
At approximately 12:00 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2010, Wade is accused of walking through an Anaheim neighborhood on Paradise Road and looking in windows with the intention of finding a vulnerable victim from whom he could steal a car. The defendant is accused of breaking into the home of 84-year-old widow Bessie Whyman through a broken window after seeing the victim sleeping in a bedroom.
Wade is accused of raping Whyman, tying her up by her hands and feet, and punching and kicking the victim. He is accused of torturing and murdering her by repeatedly stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Wade is accused of then taking a blanket and covering the victim, leaving her body in the living room. He is accused of ransacking the victim’s home and stealing her purse and car before fleeing the scene and driving to San Bernardino.
Once in San Bernardino, the defendant is accused of being in possession of Whyman’s stolen credit cards at a Food 4 Less store. Wade is accused of getting into a physical altercation with an employee, and was subsequently pepper-sprayed by staff, who called the police.
Police officers in San Bernardino determined that Whyman was from Anaheim and contacted the Anaheim Police Department (APD) for a welfare check of Whyman. At approximately 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010, APD officers discovered the victim after entering Whyman’s home through an unlocked back door.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.