People v. Zirbes

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. The jury in its verdict made no reference to the punishment which defendant was to suffer under his conviction. The court of necessity imposed upon the defendant the death sentence.

The indictment under which the defendant was tried and convicted accused him of murdering Clifford Stanley Andrus, on April 20, 1934, in the county of Sacramento. Two persons were eye-witnesses of the crime. They were Mr. and Mrs. M. W. Hedge. They were sitting in their automobile at the side of the road in North Sacramento, and saw defendant drive up in a…