| For Immediate Release September 12, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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OCDA TO OPPOSE PAROLE OF INMATE CONVICTED OF 1979 RAPE-MURDER OF MOTHER AT HOME WITH TWO YOUNG CHILDREN
SANTA ANA – Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauckas is opposing the parole of an inmate convicted of the 1979 rape and murder of a mother home alone with her two young children. William Lee Evins, 57, is currently being held at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, CA. Evins was sentenced Sept. 25, 1985, to 15 years to life in state prison after he pleaded guilty Aug. 3, 1985, to one felony count of second degree murder and a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon. This case was originally prosecuted by former Deputy District Attorney John Conley. Evins is scheduled for a parole hearing today, Monday, Sept. 12, 2011, at 1:00 p.m., at the prison before the Board of Parole Hearings, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations.
Deputy District Attorney David Porter will attend the hearing via video conference to oppose Evins’ parole.
Rape and Murder of Joan Anderson
Early in the morning of March 8, 1979, Evins, then-25 years old, was at a friend’s house on Hemlock Street in Fountain Valley, two blocks from the home of 28-year-old Joan Anderson. While walking in the neighborhood, Evins broke into Anderson’s home. Anderson was home alone with her 6-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son while her husband was away on a business trip. Evins raped Anderson in the master bedroom and then killed her by hitting her in the head with a hammer. He left her dead body on her bed, wearing a blue pajama top but naked from the waist down. Evins fled the scene.
At approximately 11:00 a.m., Anderson’s son was found wandering the neighborhood by a driver, who took him to a nearby neighbor. The neighbor took the 3-year-old boy back home, knocked on the door, and heard Anderson’s daughter crying in her crib. The neighbor entered the house and discovered Anderson’s body. Fountain Valley Police Department (FVPD) officers arrived at the scene shortly thereafter.
In May 1979, friends of Evins contacted FVPD and told the investigators that since March 8, 1979, Evins had been acting strange and was jumpy and hyper-sensitive. Evins would repeatedly express his desires to rape and kill women with hostility. Evins also asked one of his friends to lie and supply him with an alibi for March 8, 1979.
Lack of Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Threat to Public Safety
Since his incarceration, Evins has accumulated several prison rules violations, including possession of tobacco, non-compliance with the dress code, possession of cocaine, being absent from class, being out of bounds in the prison yard, non-compliance with the grooming standards, not doing assigned work, and refusing to take an assessment test. His most recent prison rules violation was in March 2011 for disruptive behavior. With these prison rules violations, the inmate continues to display a lack of rehabilitation and proves he cannot remain violence-free even when he is incarcerated.