Man Accused In Vacaville Teen's 1982 Killing To Be Tried As Adult

SOLANO COUNTY, CA -- A Solano County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that 51-year-old Marvin Ray Markle should be prosecuted in adult criminal court for allegedly killing a 14-year-old Vacaville girl when he was 17. Proceedings against Markle since his arrest in January were held in juvenile court under the provisions of Proposition 57. Those provisions require a judge, not the prosecution, to decide whether a juvenile defendant is tried in adult court.

Judge D. Scott Daniels sided with the Solano County District Attorney's Office when he granted prosecutors' their motion to transfer the case to adult court.

Daniels cited Markle's age, the degree of criminal sophistication and brutality of the killing and the fact that there was no reasonable possibility Markle could be rehabilitated in juvenile court, according to prosecutors.

Markle is charged with the murder of De Anna Lynn Johnson in Vacaville on Nov. 15, 1982. Her body was found adjacent to Elmira Road near Royal Oaks Drive the next day.

Vacaville police said Johnson attended a house party the night before her death and Markle was believed to be among the teen guests. He was considered a suspect early in the investigation but the case went cold for
three decades.

Markle was serving 80 years in Kern Valley State Prison for the shooting murder of a 41-year-old woman in Butte County on Oct. 12, 2001 when he was arrested.

By Bay City News Service

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