Neal Antoine Matthews was convicted of murdering a Palmdale gas station attendant, after nearly 40 years of the initial incident. He was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder, while also being found true of allegations of murder during a robbery, murder during a kidnapping and murder during a rape.
On December 3rd, 1978, Leslie Long was working a night shift when she was robbed and kidnapped, three days later her body was found off the 14 Freeway in Action, believed to have been shot and killed at that location.
Terry Moses, 61-years old, was also charged in the case, he pleaded guilty to Long’s murder in January 2016 and also admitted the same special circumstance allegations. DNA evidence ties both men to the murder. Moses had also pleaded guilty to the murders of Carlton Goodwin and Michael Fuqua on August 22nd, 1976, and to the attempted murder of Kenney Guevara on December 7th, 1996.
Moses will be sentenced on October 18th to three terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Matthews faces life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6th.