People v. Arguello

The jury convicted defendant of first degree murder and fixed the penalty at death. A motion for a new trial was denied, and this appeal comes before us automatically under the provisions of subdivision (b) of section 1239 of the Penal Code.

The body of Marie Chapman, an 82-year-old widow, was found by a neighbor in the bathroom of her home in San Diego about 5 o’clock in the afternoon on November 9, 1961. According to the autopsy surgeon, death resulted from *212several skull fractures and lacerations of the hrain and throat. Mrs. Chapman ordinarily kept the doors to her house locked and was…