One of two men who murdered gas station attendant Leslie Long 36 years ago has been sentenced to life without parole, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told The Signal Thursday.
Terry Moses – a 61-year-old murderer already serving a life sentence in prison – was sentenced on Oct. 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole, DA spokesman Ricardo Santiago said.
The other man convicted of the same murder – 60-year-old Neal Antoine Matthews – was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder by a jury in September, Greg Risling, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced last month.
Matthews is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.
Moses, pleaded guilty on Jan. 7, 2016, to kidnapping and killing gas station attendant Leslie Long on Dec. 3, 1978.
He was already behind bars, serving a 25 years-to-life sentence inside Soledad State Prison.
As part of his plea deal with prosecutors hammered out early last year, Moses admitted the special circumstance allegations of murder during a robbery, murder during a kidnapping and murder during a rape.
Moses also pleaded guilty to the murders of Carlton Goodwin and Michael Fuqua, who were slain Aug. 22, 1976; and to the attempted murder of Kenney Guevara on Dec. 7, 1996.
Leslie Long, a mother, was working a night shift at a Palmdale gas station on Dec. 3, 1978, when she was robbed and kidnapped.
Authorities were notified and began searching for Long. Three days later, her body was found off the Highway 14 Freeway in Acton. Investigators believe Long was shot and killed at that location.
DNA evidence ties both Moses and Matthews to the murder, Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef said in January 2016.
In September, jurors deliberated for less than a day before finding Matthews guilty of one count of first-degree murder.
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