People v. Corrales

Victoriano Corrales was convicted by a jury upon two counts of first degree murder and has been sentenced to death. Upon the appeal from the judgment and the order denying a new trial, the only questions presented for decision concern the sufficiency of the evidence to establish the corpus delicti of one crime and to justify the conviction of first degree murder in either of them.

In September, 1948, at Steamboat Slough on the Sacramento River, the torso of a woman was found floating about 5 feet from shore. It was wrapped in two blankets tied with electric cord. Inside the blankets there was…