Facts of the Crime:
Convicted of killing a young woman, Danna Walsh, who was abducted, raped, and strangled. Her body was found under the Scotia Bridge, about 30 miles south of Eureka in Humboldt County, in August 1984. Hovarter, a truck driver from the San Francisco Bay area who transported wood pulp from a mill near the crime scene, was charged with the murder after he was identified as the perpetrator of another crime—the abduction, rape, and shooting of a teenager in Mendocino County in December 1984. While in jail, Hovarter allegedly confessed both crimes to his cellmate, Gary Marolla. Marolla, who was being held on drug and weapons charges, negotiated a deal in which he received 111 days’ credit for time served and probation in exchange for his testimony against Hovarter.
Hovarter was sentenced to death in Humboldt County on November 30, 1990.
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