Man who shot, killed 2 on SLO County beach sentenced to life in prison without parole
A man convicted of killing two people — one of them an 11-year-old boy — was sentenced to 66 years to life without parole during a court hearing Monday.
Stephen Deflaun admitted to shooting and killing Stephen Wells, 37, and Wells’ 11-year-old nephew, Jerry Rios Jr., at Morro Strand Beach on July 8, 2001. The 63-year-old was incompetent to stand trial for more than two decades before his trial began in April.
Deflaun has a decades-long history of mental illness, primarily paranoid schizophrenia. In court, he testified the voices in his head compelled him to kill Wells and Rios Jr.
A jury convicted Deflaun of the first-degree murders April 19. He was also found guilty of assault with a firearm on a peace officer, in this case a California State Parks officer.
Deflaun had entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea to the crimes, but San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy found the defendant was legally sane at the time of the crime.
Deflaun was sentenced to 25 years to life for Wells’ murder and life in prison without possibility of parole for the Rios Jr.’s murder. He was given a third 25 years to life sentence for using a firearm in the second murder.
The three life sentences will be served consecutively, one after the other.
The judge sentenced Deflaun to an additional 16 years for assault on a peace officer with a firearm — six years for the crime and 10 years for using a firearm.
“We hope this life sentence provides some level of closure for the Wells and Rios families after two decades of uncertainty,” San Luis Obispo Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth said in a news release. “Our hearts are with them as they move forward from this terrible incident.”
Deflaun’s attorneys, Raymond Allen and Tim Osman, told The Tribune in an emailed statement they “respectfully disagree” with the court finding Deflaun was legally sane at the time of the crime, and believe he should have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
“Mr. Deflaun’s delusions were (and remain) firmly entrenched in his psychology and we believe that these delusions drastically affected his capacity to make rational choices to the degree that he couldn’t understand the nature and quality of his actions,” the attorneys said.
Deflaun was in custody with the California Department of State Hospitals for more than two decades and served roughly nine months, which counted toward his sentence.
In total, Deflaun served 8,155 days — or more than 22 years — in custody. The judge ruled the custody could be credited toward his 16 year sentence, meaning that has been served completely.
Following the sentencing, Deflaun was transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
