Solano Co. Inmate Convicted Of 1975 Murder Dies: CDCR

SOLANO COUNTY, CA — Former California death row inmate James Reece died of natural causes this week in Solano County, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Friday. Reece, 73, convicted by a Solano County jury in 1976 of first-degree murder in the death of Debra Ann Rebiejo, had been serving a life sentence at the state-run California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

He died at 11:24 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3 at a hospital in the community, according to CDCR Lt. Megan Cherinka.

On Sept. 16, 1975, Reece abducted Rebiejo in Hayward, where she attended evening classes at Chabot College. Rebiejo, 21, was reported missing by her parents when she did not return home. Her body was found the next morning in a drainage ditch near a tomato field. The autopsy indicated she had been raped and shot five times in the back and head.

Later that day, Reece allegedly entered a wig shop in Woodland and accosted the saleswoman. At gunpoint, he moved the woman to the back room, where he raped and shot her in the back of the neck before fleeing the scene. The victim, who survived the attack, was able to get help from a nearby car dealership.

Reece was apprehended that same afternoon while parked on the side of the road in Rebiejo’s car. He had been on parole for less than two months after serving time in state prison for first-degree robbery and escape from a county jail.

Reece was originally sentenced to death by a Solano County jury on May 7, 1976, for first-degree murder with the use of a firearm. On an appeal in July of 1978, Reece was resentenced to 7-years-to-life, serving the majority of his time at California Medical Facility, Cherinka said.

Since his 1978 resentencing, Reece was denied parole 12 times, Cherinka said.

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