LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man was sentenced on Wednesday to 32 years to life in prison for the November 2007 murder of his neighbor, who he incorrectly believed was a child molester.
Ivan Garcia Oliver, 34, received the sentence from retired Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann on Wednesday morning.
Oliver was convicted earlier this month of the Nov. 20, 2007, murder of Michael Dodele at the Western Hills Mobile Home Park in Lakeport.
“We filed an appeal today,” said defense attorney Stephen Carter.
Shortly before his murder Dodele had moved into the trailer park after being released from prison for the rape of an adult female in the late 1980s. He also had several other previous convictions for rape and attempted rape.
Because of his rape conviction, Dodele was required to register as a sex offender, and his name appeared on the Megan’s Law sex offender registration Web site.
Oliver testified during the trial to being concerned for his young son after seeing a strange car pull up to the park, with a subject inside beckoning to the boy.
When Oliver went to speak to the park’s manager about his concerns, she pulled up the Megan’s Law Web site, saw Dodele’s listing and told Oliver he was a child molester.
Several days later, Oliver confronted Dodele in his home. Oliver testified that Dodele attacked him, a claim Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff argued in court was a fabrication.
The autopsy report showed that Dodele had been stabbed about 65 times, suffering a broken vertebra, a broken shoulder and several wounds that pierced his lungs and spleen.
Dodele’s sister and daughter both gave victim impact statements at the Wednesday morning hearing, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said there wasn’t much argument to be made at the hearing regarding sentencing length. “The court didn’t have any discretion.”
Hinchcliff credited the work of the case’s two key investigators – Corey Paulich and Brian Martin – for the successful prosecution.
Paulich, the primary investigator and a sheriff’s detective, was in court every day and took the stand. Martin, who also worked at the sheriff’s office at that time, assisted Paulich, Hinchcliff said. Martin also testified in the case.
“They both did a lot of work putting this case together,” said Hinchcliff, adding that a lot of people are involved with investigating cases before they are submitted to the prosecutor.
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