| For Immediate Release
July 23, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
OCDA TO OPPOSE PAROLE OF INMATE WHO SOLICITED GIRLFRIEND, FRIEND, AND FORMER NEIGHBOR TO MURDER ESTRANGED WIFE
SANTA ANA – Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauckas is opposing the parole of a man who solicited his girlfriend, friend, and former neighbor to murder his estranged wife. Alan Frank Roark, 55, Culver City, is currently being held at California State Prison, Solano. Roark was sentenced Dec. 10, 1993, to 25 years to life in state prison after he was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder and two felony counts each of solicitation to commit murder and illegal possession of a weapon. This case was originally prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Sheila Meskin. Roark is scheduled for a parole hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at 1:30 p.m., at the prison before the Board of Parole Hearings, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri will appear at the hearing to oppose parole.
Conspiracy to Murder Jane Doe
Beginning in 1989, then 33-year-old Roark plotted to murder his estranged wife, Jane Doe, so he could retain custody of their children. In November 1989, the inmate solicited his then-girlfriend to murder the victim using rat poison, but his girlfriend refused.
In January 1992, Roark approached his former neighbor to solicit his assistance murdering the victim. In April 1992, Roark offered the neighbor a motor home, boat, and $5,000 in cash in exchange for murdering Jane Doe. Roark conspired with the neighbor to commit the crime and have his neighbor drive the get-away car. Roark and his neighbor acted in furtherance of the conspiracy by driving to a medical center with the intention of murdering Jane Doe as she left a scheduled appointment. The victim did not show up for her appointment that day.
In May 1992, Roark devised a plan to shoot Jane Doe in the parking lot of the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station, where they frequently met on Sunday nights to exchange custody of their children. Roark planned to shoot Jane Doe and dispose of her body in the ocean with his neighbor’s assistance. On more than one occasion, Roark and his neighbor drove to the sheriff’s station parking lot while in possession of a gun, gloves, and a five-foot bag for her body with the intent to murder Jane Doe, but Roark never followed through with the plan.
In November 1992, Roark offered a friend $10,000 to murder Jane Doe, but his friend refused. Roark’s then offered his friend $5,000 in cash to murder the victim by injecting her with drugs to make her death look like a drug overdose. The friend again refused.