Raymond James Dillon, a 46-year-old habitual law-breaker who savagely attacked two women in their Sacramento homes two years ago, was sentenced Thursday to 115 years to life in prison.
"The brutal and vicious nature of these crimes makes them especially heinous," said Deputy District Attorney Sheri Greco after the sentencing. "Thanks to the bravery of the victims and witnesses, this violent offender with a criminal history spanning almost 30 years will spend the rest of his life in prison."
Dillon had prior convictions for carjacking and burglary, making him a three-strikes, 25 years-to-life candidate going into his trial in July.
After the four-week trial, a jury on Aug. 21 took barely 2½ hours to return guilty verdicts on 12 counts. The panel found him guilty of robbery in the first degree, residential burglary, false imprisonment, battery with serious bodily injury, carjacking, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, receiving stolen property and stealing bank cards.
Both of the victims – ages 82 and 60 – were beaten severely, and the crimes sent shivers of fear through their Curtis Park and east Sacramento neighborhoods.
"They were home alone and were especially vulnerable," said prosecutor Greco.
The two women were in court for Thursday's sentencing and made victim impact statements to Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian.
Dillon and accomplice David Lawrence Keihl, 48, broke into the 60-year-old woman's home and physically assaulted her Aug. 30, 2006. She suffered a fractured back and an eye orbital fracture. One of the men held her down on the floor while the other disconnected her laptop computer.
When neighbors heard screams and went to check, the duo fled, dropping a hat, backpack, and stolen laptop. Items recovered at the scene were eventually traced to Dillon. The hat had his DNA on it.
The next day, Dillon by himself invaded the 82-year-old woman's home and repeatedly beat her, stole jewelry off her body, took her purse containing credit cards, tied her hands and feet with cloth, cut the phone line, and stole her car, leaving her for dead. She sustained a broken wrist and finger, cardiac contusion, and several head wounds from being hit with a metal pole.
A stolen bank card was traced to Dillon after the Sacramento Police Department released video surveillance of a woman who used it. She identified Dillon and led officers to his apartment, where bloody clothes were found. DNA tests determined the blood was from the 82-year-old victim.
Keihl, the accomplice in the first home invasion who also had a long criminal history and was a three-strikes offender, was found guilty by a jury earlier this year and sentenced to 46 years to life.
Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.
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