A 74-year-old man accused in the oldest cold-case homicide prosecution in Orange County history is scheduled to report to court on Friday to determine if he is mentally capable of assisting in his defense.
However, there’s a good chance Charles Edward Faith won’t make it before the judge, an ongoing issue that has put his trial in perpetual “limbo” for years, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin.
The murder victim’s daughter told City News Service today that she would approve if prosecutors reach a plea deal with Faith and freed him from custody.
“He’s done seven years. They could reduce the charges, have him plead to a lesser charge, give him time served, open the door and push him out and make him take care of himself, which he can’t do,” said Christina Lonzo, the daughter of Christine Wariner, who prosecutors allege was murdered by Faith on Feb. 16, 1964, in Santa Ana.
Faith is being cared for in a jail ward of an area hospital and physicians say he is too frail to attend his court hearings, according to Yellin. The prosecutor does not believe the defendant is not mentally healthy enough to aid in his defense.
“I think he’s a faker,” Yellin said. “But medical reports say he’s incompetent and they sent him off to Patton (State Hospital) to restore his sanity and Patton sends him back after just shy of three years (from 2009-12).
“Ever since then he’s been in the medical ward and he doesn’t get transported to court, so we’re in limbo. It feels like there’s less and less chance of justice for our victim and that’s sad and concerning to us.”
Faith’s attorney, Denise Gragg, declined comment.
Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley found there was enough evidence six years ago for Faith to stand trial.
The body of the victim, who was the manager of the California Hotel, which was at 601 Main St. in Santa Ana, was found partially clothed in her apartment by a tenant who was attempting to pay the rent, Yellin said.
“It was obvious she was sexually assaulted and there was a pile of dirt and pieces of a planter in her face,” Yellin said.
Investigators found four bloody fingerprints on top of Wariner’s door, indicating the killer was attempting to avoid leaving evidence on the door knob, Yellin said.
Authorities could not find a match for the fingerprints and the case went cold. About 40 years later, the evidence was run through a database automatically and came back with a match to Faith, who had been arrested for suspicion of drunken driving a couple of years earlier, Yellin said.
The fingerprint match, which was made in February 2002, is the principal forensic evidence because the semen found in the victim’s body had deteriorated too much for a DNA analysis, Yellin said.
Faith was charged with Wariner’s murder in 2007 after cold case detectives interviewed Faith twice.
During the interview with detectives, Faith allegedly said he had a split personality and that it was his “friend” Doug that killed the victim, Yellin said.
“I told them people with a split personality don’t know they have another identity so he’s (lying),” Yelin said. “He basically tells a story about how he was in her apartment and his friend Doug was with him and at some point he was unconscious from a blow to the head and when he wakes up she’s in this condition and he leaves. It turns out Doug is invisible and he’s always with him.”
Lonzo said she had difficulty explaining her feelings about the case because she claimed her troubled mother tried to kill her and her brother when they were about 5 to 7 years old and she had to grow up more or less in and out of foster homes.
However, she’s angry with the defendant because he took away an opportunity to heal old wounds with her mother.
“I guess I’ve been saying it for the last seven years how frustrating it is that we can’t get this resolved,” said Lonzo, who grew up in California but now lives in Alabama.
Lonzo doesn’t like the fact that the state has to care for Faith.
“Now they pamper him. They change his sheets a couple of times a day,” Lonzo said. “Whatever he needs is right there by his bed because he’s their patient.”
Lonzo wouldn’t mind if the defendant is sent back to Patton because, “it won’t be that sweet” there.
Letting Faith go might be the best alternative given his declining health.
“If he were strong and healthy and trying to get out on a lesser charge I’d say no way,” Lonzo said.
— City News Service