Bulletin, Record, Progressive, Reporter Wednesday, May 30, 2018 5B
ife senten
Surviving hild
ives her for th
torture nd
use
endured
Victoria Metcalf The couple, in a Toyota closure," he said.
Assistant Editor 4-Runner, stopped in Curiel was not eligible for
vmetcalf@plumasnews.com Redding long enough to rent a plea deal such as the one
a storage unit and deposit a Huntsman made. He was a
It came as no surprise plastic tote that contained minor at the time of the
when a Monterey County the bodies of Shaun Tara crimes and would not face
judge sentenced Tami Joy and his younger sister the death penalty.
Huntsman, 42, to live in Delylah Tara. Huntsman was the cousin
prison for the rest of her life. They traveled on, linking of the three children. She
The decision was handed up with a Quincy resident agreed to take them
down Friday, May 18. Huntsman knew. When that following the sudden death
In late February, with a woman became suspicious, of their mother and then the
double trial scheduled for the couple found an imprisonment of their
just days away, Huntsman apartment of their own. But father.
and her attorney offered a the resident ultimately For the first time, it was
plea deal. She would plead contacted Child Protectiverevealed that Huntsman also
guilty to charges of Services. That program's had an older daughter. This
murdering two young caseworker in turn asked is in addition to twins and
children placed in her care for a deputy to accompany an older son.
and torturing three of them. them to the apartment for a Angelica Alcantara -- that
In exchange, Huntsman welfare check on 9-year-old daughter -- said that she
would not go on trial and Jane Doe. would not make excuses for
she would escape the death The investigation led to her mother but that she
penalty. Her deal was the discovery of Jane Doe forgives her, according to
accepted, who was huddled on the Mercury Herald reporter
During that plea deal, floorboards of the locked Tom Wright.
Huntsman pleaded guilty to Toyota. She had piled "My mom, Tami
one count of torture and one clothing on top of herself in Huntsman, was and I believe
count of child abuse causing an attempt to keep warm. still is a good person," she
great bodily injury, and two Sheriff's Deputy Tyler said in a letter. "She was a
counts of conspiracy for Hermann discovered Jane good morn not only to her
abuse she inflicted on the Doe who had been horribly kids, but also to all the
children's half-sister, Jane beaten and starved. He neighborhood kids."
Doe, according to Monterey arrested Huntsman and her Shaun, Delylah and Jane
District Attorney Dean D. boyfriend Gonzalo Curiel Jr. Doe moved in with
Flippo on May 18. Jane Doe and charged them with child Huntsman and her husband
is the court's name to hide endangerment, in April 2014.
the identity of the half-sister As they were interviewed, Curiel, a friend of one of
who was abused and Curiel admitted that the Huntsman's sons, moved
starved, bodies of two other children into the tiny apartment in
Pursuant to the stipulated were in Redding. November 2014. When
sentence, Judge Pamela "The jury found true Huntsman's husband
Butler ordered Huntsman to special circumstances thatdiscovered his wife and
serve two consecutive life the murders were Curiel were having an
terms without the committed by torture and affair, he moved out.
possibility of parole, three that Curiel committed Judge Butler stated that in
additional consecutive life multiple murders," her 23 years of criminal law
terms, and nine more years, according to Flippo that she never thought that
"She has waived all writs following the verdict, anyone she had sentenced to
and appeals and will never Curiel was also convicted life in prison without the
be released from prison," of one count of torture and possibility of parole should
according to Flippo. one count of child abuse to "never, ever, ever" get out of
Huntsman is also to pay Jane Doe, "causing great prison.
$10,000 for victim restitution bodily injury he inflicted Huntsman's case proved
for Jane Doe, and $4,800 for on the children's to be the exception. The
burial expenses for the two half-sister," Flippo added, sentence is appropriate and
children, according to He was found guilty April just. "You were the adult,"
Monterey County Weekly 23 in Salinas. He is she told Huntsman in the
reporter Nic Coury. scheduled for sentencing courtroom. "You were the
Huntsman was 39 when June 29. one responsible for
the murders and torture Prosecutor Steve Somers protecting those children
occurred, when she and her said that while they "never and you failed them.
then 17-year-old lover and wavered in our belief that '"
accomplice abused and she deserved the death Letter from a
starved three children, aged penalty and still does," it's victim of torture
3, 7 and 9, placed in her care. unlikely that Huntsman Although Jane Doe was
The abuse ended in the would ever be executed'andnot physically present in the
deaths of the two younger a death penalty sentence courtroom May 18, her
children, would have resulted in thoughts were.
Fleeing their small "interminable appeals," An investigator from the
apartment in Salinas the according to Chelcey Adami, district attorney's office
couple took the 9-year-old, a reporter for The read a letter written by Jane
Huntsman's twins and the Californian. Doe.
bodies of the two children on "Ultimately the victims "I would like to express
a circuitous trip around wanted closure. They myself by telling it was a
parts of Northern California wanted this thing to come to horrible experience for my
in late November and early an end and the last thing we siblings and me to be in pain
December 2015. get with the death penalty is and sadness in that
"1 felt like I was done for good and nobody cared
anymore, but deep down I know I would get saved
somehow. I realized everything has a season and people
can change when they want to. It is not good to disfike
someone for a long time. I would fike to say I forgive Tami
Huntsman and Gonzalo Curiel for their actions. "
Jane Doe
Tami Joy Huntsman was 39
when she was arrested in
Plumas County in December
2015. She will spend the rest
of her life in prison. Photo
courtesy Plumas County Sheriff's
Office
apartment," Jane Doe, now
12, wrote.
"What Tami and Gonzo
have put in my life was the
worst thing I experienced. If
I could have I would have
stopped it myself, but I was
weak and tired."
The investigator
continued to read, "Shaun --
his style, laugh and
character, plus he was
smart. He was the best
brother (I) could have; he
would never let me down."
The investigator also read,
"Delylah'was the prettiest
sister I've ever seen. For her
to live that bad way, and not
the good, that affects my
heart. She was very young
and I barely got to know her,
but she would have been
intelligent as she grew in
life. Guess what, she can't
because of Tami and Gonzo
(Curiel)."
Jane Doe also wrote, "I felt
like I was done for good and
nobody cared anymore, but
deep down I know I would
get saved somehow. I
realized everything has a
season and people can
change when they want to. It
is not good to dislike
someone for a long time. I
would like to say I forgive
Tami Huntsman and
Gonzalo Curiel for their
actions."
Why she did it
One thing on most
people's minds was how
could a woman do what she
did to three children placed
in her care?
Huntsman underwent a
neuropsychiatric
examination with
psychiatrist George W.
Woods-Jr. who shared some
of his findings with the
court.
Woods said Huntsman was
abandoned by her mother
and never knew her father.
He sa!d that she endured
physical and sexual abuse in
her childhood, according to
trial information from The
Monterey Herald.
Woods also said she was
severely injured on a job
and subsequent medical
treatment and medication
had an impact on her
stability.
"It is my professional
opinion that this medical
trauma accentuated her
early life trauma," Woods
told the court. "It eroded her
resiliency and exposed her
suggestibility and learned
helplessness that were, in
my professional opinion,
key components of her role
in the offense for which she
has accepted
responsibility."
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