David Allen Rundle was 21 years old in the fall of 1986, when a young woman and a teenage girl died in Placer County, California. Caroline Garcia was 18. Lanciann Sorensen was 15. Their deaths came about a month apart, in September and October of that year. Rundle was arrested in Carson City, Nevada, on November 20, 1986, and was tried in Placer County Superior Court in 1989. A jury convicted him of both first-degree murders, with other charges, and sentenced him to death.
Caroline Garcia, 18, lived in the Roseville area. Lanciann Sorensen was 15. Little more about either life is on record.
Rundle gave police several differing accounts of what had happened to Garcia before he was arrested in Carson City, Nevada, on November 20, 1986. After his arrest he was interviewed about both deaths and confessed to each killing, though he first denied involvement and later changed details of what he said. Further steps of the investigation are not on record.
Rundle also confessed, in interviews with Sacramento officers, to the murder of Elizabeth Lactawen, a 24-year-old woman, which had happened in Sacramento in May 1986, earlier that same year. A conviction for it is not on record. The Placer County jury heard the confessions as evidence in the penalty phase, and the California Supreme Court later rejected his claims that those statements to the Sacramento officers had been obtained improperly.
The trial began in Placer County Superior Court in January 1989. Rundle took the stand in his own defense. He said that he had killed both in fits of rage, and that he had lied in parts of his confessions out of a wish to end the questioning. The prosecution called Garcia's roommate, friends and co-workers of the two victims, and a former girlfriend of Rundle. A psychiatrist testified for the defense.
The jury deliberated for less than one court day. On May 18, 1989, it found Rundle guilty of the first-degree murders of Garcia and Sorensen, along with other charges. It found true the special circumstance of multiple murders in the same proceeding, and a second special circumstance as to each victim. For the other offenses, the trial court imposed four years as to Garcia and a consecutive one year as to Sorensen.
The penalty phase went before the same jury. The prosecution offered the confessions to the Lactawen killing and the testimony of his former wife. The defense presented relatives and employers who described his background and good conduct, a psychologist, and evidence that he had completed a high-school equivalency program and had helped jail staff thwart an escape plan. A psychiatrist testified for the prosecution.
Again the jury deliberated for less than a full court day. On June 15, 1989, it returned a verdict of death. The trial court denied the automatic motion to modify the verdict and imposed the sentence. Judgment was entered on September 21, 1989.
The California Supreme Court decided People v. Rundle on April 3, 2008, and affirmed the judgment in its entirety. The court rejected claims about gaps in the trial record, which it found harmless, about the admission of the Lactawen confessions and statements to a psychiatrist, and about the use of his earlier hearing testimony to impeach him. It also held that the evidence supported the charge and special circumstance as to Sorensen. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the direct appeal in 2008.
Rundle had filed a state habeas petition in 2005. On June 25, 2008, the California Supreme Court denied every claim on the merits except one, which it denied as premature and without prejudice to renewal once an execution date is set.
On August 13, 2008, Rundle began a federal habeas case in the Eastern District of California by requesting counsel; counsel was appointed on November 24, 2008, and the petition was filed on November 10, 2009. The State answered in September 2010, and Rundle filed a traverse in February 2011. On November 21, 2013, a magistrate judge recommended denying the petition: claims A through Y to be denied and claim Z dismissed without prejudice. The district court denied habeas relief. The date of that final order is not on record.
On July 25, 2019, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit (Judges N.R. Smith, Nguyen and Owens) affirmed the denial in an unpublished memorandum. His principal argument was that his trial lawyer had been ineffective at the penalty phase. The panel did not decide whether the lawyer's work fell short. It held that the California Supreme Court could reasonably conclude that Rundle had suffered no prejudice, given the evidence the jury heard against him, and that nothing in the record showed he had been unable to consult with counsel. A further petition to the U.S. Supreme Court is not on record.
As of the Ninth Circuit's decision of July 25, 2019, the death sentence imposed in Placer County in 1989 stood. A later change in his sentence or location is not on record.
Elizabeth Lactawen's death in Sacramento in May 1986 is a confessed killing. The Placer County jury heard the confessions, and the reviewing courts treated it as evidence of an earlier, similar murder. No conviction, plea or sentence for it is on record. The conflicting accounts he gave of the deaths of Garcia and Sorensen, and his testimony that he had lied in parts of his confessions, were matters the jury weighed and resolved against him.
May 1986: Elizabeth Lactawen dies in Sacramento (confessed by Rundle; no conviction on record).
September 1986: Caroline Garcia, 18, dies in Placer County.
October 1986: Lanciann Sorensen, 15, dies in Placer County.
November 20, 1986: Rundle is arrested in Carson City, Nevada.
January 1989: Trial begins in Placer County Superior Court.
May 18, 1989: Guilty verdicts and special circumstance findings.
June 15, 1989: Jury returns a death verdict.
September 21, 1989: Judgment entered.
2005: State habeas petition filed.
April 3, 2008: California Supreme Court affirms the judgment.
June 25, 2008: State habeas petition denied, except one claim denied as premature.
November 10, 2009: Federal habeas petition filed.
November 21, 2013: Magistrate judge recommends denial.
July 25, 2019: Ninth Circuit affirms denial of habeas relief.