Who is Charlie Malzahn? Chief of police's stepson gets life for killing GF after she BAILED him out of jail
In October 2017, Charlie Malzahn, 32, brutally killed his girlfriend of a month, Cathryn Gorospe, 44, an elementary school teacher in Arizona. She had set her house as collateral to help bail Malzahn out of prison in Coconino County. In a recent trial on Tuesday this week, Malzahn was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole.
Cathryn's mother, Lynnette Jackson, was infuriated at the sentence and declared, "Life in prison is a gift" for the crime. In June this year, Malzahn agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder and abandonment of a human body in exchange for assurance from the prosecutors not to grant him the death penalty. Additionally, his stepfather is the Chief of Police in Williams, Arizona. Jackson remarked how there was no suitable justice for the crime and the loss of her daughter, and they can only give the criminal mercy.
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The Coconino County Superior Court's sentencing comes almost five years after Malzahn committed the gruesome murder. Cathryn wished to help him get rid of his drug addiction, get employed, and lead a stable life right after she bailed him out of prison. He was convicted of three felonies spanning Arizona. However, a couple of days after she had left to post bond for Malzahn, Cathryn's roommate filed a missing complaint. The police spotted Malzahn driving her vehicle, whose seats were stained with blood, and caught him soon after. Her body, which showed traces of getting stabbed, defensive wounds, and damage around the ribs, was found in Mayer.
On seeing her mother's anger at the judgment, Court judge Dan Slayton said, "You'll leave here and leave with the same heaviness and emptiness you've expressed and that you've felt for almost the past five years. What I have seen here is a tremendous amount of love for each other. I hope that feeling of love and kindness to each other will enable you to find peace." Several other charges, including an armed robbery and theft of a vehicle, were placed on Malzahn ranging from 2 to 15 years.
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Before the proceedings, the victim's father, Ray Gorospe, read a victim impact statement and sobbed as he spoke of his loss. Ray, a soldier, and firefighter, said there was nothing comparable in his entire experience to Cathryn's death. "I didn't know it was possible to feel so much pain without being physically injured," Ray added. He also mentioned that he would never find closure and would always be pained for losing his daughter. The entire family wore green to honor Cathryn, fond of the Green Bay Packers. In a conversation with the Associated Press, her stepmother said it was one of Cathryn's flaws to assume "anybody could be rescued with enough kindness and compassion." Malzahn apologized for his action and agreed his apology "doesn't change anything."