Man who killed for a bike gets life in prison

[michelem]

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/crime/archives/016572.html

October 30, 2008
Man who killed for a bike gets life in prison
From Andy Furillo:

Steven Burnnett Burkholder will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of getting out as a result of a sentence he received today in Sacramento Superior Court.

Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan imposed with life in prison with no possibility of parole on the 47-year-old career criminal who was convicted last month in the robbery murder of Floyd Wehe.

Burkholder stabbed Wehe to death in June 2004 while robbing him of his bicycle at knifepoint.

Burkholder has prior convictions for carjacking and burglary.

[michelem]

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1257976.html

Here's some background:

Jurors deliver convictions in 2 Sacramento murders
By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2008 | Page 3B
A career criminal who stabbed a man to death during a bicycle robbery four years ago faces a life sentence with no possibility of parole on the first-degree murder conviction he received Monday from a Sacramento jury.

Steve Burnnett Burkholder, 47, is scheduled for an Oct. 24 sentencing by Superior Court Judge Cheryl Chun Meegan.

Burkholder was convicted in the June 2004 stabbing death of Floyd Wehe, who was out on a late-night bike ride in midtown Sacramento when the defendant accosted him at 1 a.m. at 20th and N streets.

The jury also convicted Burkholder of second-degree robbery. The panel also found to be true his earlier convictions for carjacking and burglary.

Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall said after the verdict he will ask the judge to sentence Burkholder to the life term with no chance of parole.

"Relief," the victim's daughter, Wendy Wehe, said Monday, in describing her reaction to the jury's verdict.

Relatives of the victim said he worked for a recycling company and that he enjoyed taking long-distance, late-night bike rides when he got off work.

His wife, Michele Wehe, said the death left his family "devastated."

"He took care of his family," Michele Wehe said.

In another homicide trial, a jury on Thursday convicted a 21-year-old reputed gang member of first-degree murder for the December 2006 shooting death of a suspected marijuana dealer.

James Willis is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 17 by Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly.

According to Deputy District Attorney Leland Washington, Willis, a reputed north area gang member, shot and killed 19-year-old Rajneel Kamal Sharma on Dec. 27, 2006, in the course of robbing him.

Sharma, who also was armed, was able to shoot back and wounded Willis once before falling dead at the scene of the Norwood Avenue homicide, Washington said.