Convicted Oceanside Cop Killer Sentenced To Death

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February 7, 2006 - A judge sentenced an illegal Mexican immigrant with a criminal past to death Tuesday for killing a rookie Oceanside police officer during a routine traffic stop in 2003.

Adrian Camacho, a drug-addicted gang member, was convicted in November in the death of Officer Tony Zeppetella. Vista Superior Court Judge Joan Weber agreed with the jury's recommendation of death for Camacho, who had been deported twice for being in the United States illegally before the shooting.

Camacho, 30, did not make a statement before sentencing. He showed no emotion as Zeppetella's widow, Jamie, told the court that her son will only see his father in family albums.

"You took something you had no right to take," she told Camacho. "Because of you, I no longer get to see my husband's smile anymore, or hear his sweet voice."

Camacho will join the ranks of nearly 650 other prisoners on California's death row.

On June 13, 2003, Camacho was high on heroin and methamphetamine when he opened fire at Zeppetella in the parking lot of an Oceanside bank. A total of 34 rounds were exchanged and Zeppetella, a 27-year-old officer, was shot 13 times. Camacho fled in Zeppetella's squad car. Authorities arrested Camacho hours later at the home of his wife's family, where he had slit his wrists and scrawled "I'm sorry" in his own blood on bathroom tile.

During his trial, defense attorneys conceded that Camacho shot and killed Zeppetella, but maintained he suffered from mental illness stemming from years of heroin abuse. The defense argued that Camacho's actions the day of the shooting were not those of a sane man.

Prosecutors countered that Camacho shot Zeppetella because the ex-convict knew he would be caught with the gun and drugs in his car and did not want to return to prison.

Camacho, who immigrated to Oceanside from Mexico with his family, admitted that he joined a gang in his mid-teens had been in and out of prison since the 1990s on drug, weapons and attempted murder charges.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=state&id=3885704

[CHP Explorer]

Camacho sentenced to death for killing policeman

By: Teri Figueroa, Erin Schultz, Stacy Brandt, Jo Moreland and Mark Walker

VISTA ---- Adrian Camacho, who gunned down a 27-year-old rookie Oceanside police officer in a bank parking lot in 2003, was sentenced to death Tuesday.

Judge Joan Weber upheld a recommendation from a jury of seven women and five men who voted that Camacho should die for killing Officer Tony Zeppetella.

"The weight of the evidence supports the jury's recommendation of death," Weber said before announcing her decision. "I do find that Mr. Camacho's remorse ... was too little, too late.


"The evidence shows this defendant was cold and calculated. Officer Zeppetella was crawling away from the defendant and yet the defendant kept shooting, shooting shooting."

Her comments drew muffled sobs from Zeppetella's mother, Renate Zeppetella, and the officer's widow, Jamie Zeppetella, who buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Camacho was convicted of first-degree murder in October for the June 13, 2003, slaying Zeppetella in the crowded parking lot off College Boulevard in Oceanside.

On Nov. 30, jurors voted to recommend that Weber sentence Camacho to death. The judge had discretion over whether to accept the recommendation or give Camacho life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"The horror of this crime is in the details," the judge said. "Thirteen bullets."

At the Oceanside Police Department, it was quiet minutes after the sentencing.

Lt. Shawn Murray said the department expected Camacho would get the death sentence.

"That's the appropriate sentence," Murrary said. "He earned the death penalty."

Camacho had very little reaction when the judge announced her decision. His lips pursed slighlty and his shoulders dipped. He did not speak during the hearing.

His family members said they would have no comment.

Camacho, who had a loaded gun and drugs in his car when he was pulled over by Zeppetella on a routine traffic stop, shot the officer 13 times. He also pistol-whipped Zeppetella, who fired back before Camacho took his gun.

There were dozens of witnesses to the slaying at Navy Federal Credit Union at Avenida de la Plate and College Boulevard. During his trial, Camacho's attorneys admitted their client killed Zeppetella. But they contended he was in the throes of a drug-induced delirium when he pulled the trigger.

After the gun battle, Camacho stole Zeppetella's patrol car and fled to his mother-in-law's nearby home in an upscale Oceanside neighborhood. There, he slit his wrists and scrawled apologetic messages on a bathroom wall before surrendering four hours later.

Prosecuting attorneys argued that Camacho, 30, an ex-con and documented gang member, attacked Zeppetella, because he had a gun and drugs and did not want to be sent back to prison.

Camacho, who was born in Mexico but grew up in North County, was living in the U.S. illegally. Jurors were not told about his immigration status, nor that Camacho had been caught in the country twice before and faced up to 20 years in jail if found living in the U.S. again.

The defense pointed to Camacho's battle with a longtime heroin addiction, and pointed out that Camacho's blood, drawn six hours after the shootout, contained a mix of heroin, methamphetamine and the prescription anti-depressant Paxil.

One of his two attorneys, public defender Kathleen Cannon, called Camacho's suicide attempt as a sign of his remorse during Tuesday's hearing.

At one point during her argument to the judge, she walked behind Camacho and put her hands on his arms.

"This is a human being," she said. "He's a father, he's a husband."

As Cannon was speaking, Jamie Zepetella got up and left the courtroom.

Cannon argued that since they day they got the case, she and Camacho's other attorney, public defender William Stone, had concerns that "the community outcry ... was going to completely overrun the fairness in this case."

But Deputy District Attorney David Rubin said Camacho never showed real remorse and that the jury was correct in rejecting that argument as one reason why he shouldn't be put to death.

Jurors said after the monthlong trial in Vista Superior Court that the brutality of the crime and the number of times Zeppetella was shot caused them to decide Camacho should die.

During the gun battle, Camacho emptied his own semiautomatic, then took Zeppetella's gun and continued to fire at the mortally wounded officer.

According to testimony, Camacho probably fired the first shot as the officer stood at Camacho's car window. Camacho got off about five shots from his fully loaded semiautomatic pistol before the officer could return fire, witnesses said.

Already bleeding to death, Zeppetella fell to the ground and fired back, striking Camacho in the leg as Camacho got out of his car.

Camacho then pumped more bullets into Zeppetella, one of them striking the officer's upper arm and severing the bone. Prosecutor David Rubin said that, from that point, Zeppetella was probably no longer able to shoot back.

Witnesses testified that Camacho emptied his gun as the wounded Zeppetella tried to crawl for cover. Camacho then pistol-whipped Zeppetella and stole his gun, firing the final shots into Zeppetella with the officer's weapon, according to witnesses.

The last four shots of the gun battle can be heard on a 911 call made by a witness, a woman who told police dispatchers that an officer was shot and that the gunman was fleeing in the officer's patrol car. Squealing tires can be heard on the 911 recording.

Police traced Camacho to his mother-in-law's home and coaxed him from it about four hours after the shooting following a brief negotiation.

Zeppetella was hired by the Oceanside Police Department on May 13, 2002, and graduated from the San Diego Regional Police Academy in October of that year. The U.S. Navy veteran had worked with a training officer for five months before being given his own patrol vehicle.

Professional Police Supply, the retailer that sold the bullet-resistant vest he wore the day he was shot, was sued by Jamie Zeppetella a few months after the killing. The company later agreed to pay $45,000 into an account for Jakob Zeppetella; $105,000 to Jamie Zeppetella, and $15,000 to cover legal costs.

Another lawsuit against Second Chance Body Armor, the company that manufactured the vest, and Toyobo Co., which produces Zylon fiber that used in it, are pending. The suit alleged her husband would have survived if his vest had performed as promised.

In court documents, Toyobo and Second Chance accuse each other of ignoring or hiding test results regarding the safety of Zylon-based vests.

Earlier this month, a Highway 76 was designated the Oceanside Police Officer Tony Zeppetella Memorial Highway. A memorial also was established at the bank a short time after the killing.

Form www.nctimes.com