Upper Lake man convicted of stepmother’s murder, sentenced to prison
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An Upper Lake man has been convicted of the January 2021 murder of his stepmother.
Matthew Daniel Mora, 36, was convicted on Feb. 18 of the murder of 56-year-old Christine Mora of Upper Lake, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff said Judge Andrew Blum sentenced Matthew Mora to the statutorily required term of 15 years to life for second degree murder. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and the court reserved restitution for Christine Mora’s estate.
On Jan. 26, 2021, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and investigators responded to a residence on Highway 20 in Upper Lake on the report of a shooting. When they arrived they found Christine Mora deceased on the floor of her living room with a single gunshot wound.
A few hours later, investigators were able to determine Matthew Mora had checked into the Super 8 Motel in Upper Lake, where they arrested him. At the time of his arrest it was determined that he was intoxicated.
During the subsequent interview of Mora, he claimed to have no memory of the shooting, even though he was able to remember events that had occurred earlier in the day before the shooting.
As the investigation into the shooting continued during the next several weeks, it was determined that Mora had had an ongoing alcohol abuse problem for several years, and had a fascination with firearms.
He purchased the handgun he used to kill Christine Mora in March of 2020. On April 14, 2020, while living with his mother in Santa Maria, Mora was in his bedroom, intoxicated, and handling his handgun when he accidentally discharged it into the bedroom wall. The Santa Maria Police Department responded and investigated, and seized the gun, but no criminal charges were ever filed and the firearm was eventually returned to Matthew Mora.
The investigation also revealed that before the shooting of Christine Mora, Matthew Mora had made several threats toward and negative comments about his father, Christine Mora’s husband.
A couple of months before the shooting, Matthew Mora had allegedly stolen a gun from a relative while in Colorado on a trip with his dad, and on the drive back to California had pointed it at his dad and threatened him with it.
At the time of the January 2021 shooting, Matthew Mora had been living with his dad and stepmother, who had let him move into their home to try to help him with his alcohol problem and get his life on a better path.
On the day of Christine Mora’s murder, Matthew Mora had been drinking at Running Creek Casino in Upper Lake. He got kicked out of the casino because he was intoxicated, was being belligerent and had threatened a bartender.
He walked home, where his dad told him to leave and get a motel room for the night, because Matthew Mora was intoxicated and his dad did not want him at the house when Christine Mora got home from work.
Matthew Mora was apparently angry and left the house with his backpack and his two loaded handguns in it. He walked down the road to a local store and bought some beer. When he left the store, witnesses saw him discharge one of his guns into the air as he was walking across the bridge on Highway 20 in Upper Lake.
Instead of getting a motel room, Matthew Mora returned to his dad’s house shortly after Christine Mora arrived home from work. His dad tried to convince him to leave again. Instead of leaving, Matthew Mora kicked open the gate to the residence and entered the front door and pointed the handgun at his dad.
When he saw his dad’s reaction he made a comment about his dad being scared. He then pointed the handgun at the face of Christine Mora, who was standing about 2 feet away from the gun.
The gun then discharged, killing Christine Mora. Matthew Mora’s father told investigators that when the gun discharged, Matthew Mora made a comment that indicated he might not have intended to discharge the firearm.
Whether or not Mathew Mora intended to discharge the gun, his conduct and actions before firing the gun were intentional and showed an extreme indifference toward human life and had the same deadly consequences, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff, who prosecuted the case, said that on Jan. 19, Matthew Mora pleaded no contest to second degree murder. Dana Liberatore was the public defender appointed to represent Matthew Mora.
At Matthew Mora’s Feb. 18 sentencing — which lasted almost two hours — numerous friends and relatives gave victim impact statements to the judge about all the positive impacts Christine Mora had on their lives, and how devastating her loss was to the family.
Both Hinchcliff and Judge Blum stated at the sentencing that given Matthew Mora’s conduct and the impact the murder had on Christine Mora’s family, that he should never be granted parole.
If Mora ever has a parole hearing in the future, family members will be allowed to attend the hearing with the parole commissioners to argue against parole, Hinchcliff said.