People v. Henderson

Murder for hire. Defendant Willie Lee Henderson and Mabel Glenn were charged with the murder of Edgar Glenn, Mabel’s husband. The information alleged that the murder of Glenn was intentional and carried out by defendant pursuant to an agreement to accept valuable consideration for the act of murder. (Former Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a).) Defendant’s trial was severed from Mabel’s and that of another codefendant. After a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of first degree murder. Later, the same jury found the alleged special circumstances to be true. In October 1975, the death penalty was imposed. In December 1976, the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty statute (Rockwell v. Superior Court (1976) 18 Cal.3d 420 [ 134 Cal.Rptr. 650 , 556 P.2d 1101 ]) and transferred this appeal to us.

Facts

The prosecution’s theory was that defendant and Mabel Glenn had agreed to kill Edgar Glenn, and that defendant would receive one-half of the proceeds of Edgar’s estate.

In early 1975, defendant asked Kirk Douglass whether Douglass would help defendant poison somebody. Defendant said the whole deal was worth $80,000 and Douglass agreed to participate. Defendant wanted…