Marine on death row for killing officer has sentence reduced

SAN DIEGO - A Marine sitting on death row for killing an officer at Camp Pendleton in 1996 had his sentence reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, the Marine Corps announced today.

Jessie Quintanilla, now 42, was convicted in the March 5, 1996, murder of Lt. Col. Daniel Kidd and the attempted murder of Lt. Col. Thomas Heffner.

Quintanilla, a supply sergeant, shot Kidd at point-blank range and wounded Heffner at the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 space at Camp Pendleton. Kidd was the squadron's executive officer and Heffner was the squadron's commander.

According to te...