FROM:
Dave Davies, Assistant District Attorney CONTACT PERSON:
Dana Overstreet, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2786 For Release on December 11, 2002 after authorization from Dana Overstreet PEOPLE v. LINDA PRIDEAUX, SANTA CLARA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT No. CC119545
Linda Prideaux appeared in Superior Court today and entered a plea of guilty to one count of Penal Code section 187 (Murder), stemming from the murder of Connie Souza, Prideaux’s mother, in San Jose on August 10, 2001. Souza died from multiple stab wounds. Prideaux also entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to one count of Penal Code section 205 (Aggravated Mayhem) related to the same incident. The Honorable Rene Navarro accepted Prideaux’s pleas with the concurrence of Deputy District Attorney Dana Overstreet and Prideaux’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Molly O’Neal. The dual pleas will result in Prideaux serving a term of life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder as well as being committed simultaneously to the California Department of Mental Health for life, or until such time as the Department of Mental Health deems her restored to sanity or treatable in the community. In the event of either of those findings by the Department of Mental Health, Prideaux will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections to continue serving her prison term. Prideaux was previously found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 1974 murder of her second husband and was committed to the California Department of Mental Health. Prideaux was released from a state mental hospital in that case in 1980 and received continued treatment in the community until 1990. Prideaux will be sentenced in the Superior Court on February 7, 2003 before the Honorable Rene Navarro. ###
Dave Davies, Assistant District Attorney CONTACT PERSON:
Dana Overstreet, Deputy District Attorney
(408) 792-2786 For Release on December 11, 2002 after authorization from Dana Overstreet PEOPLE v. LINDA PRIDEAUX, SANTA CLARA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT No. CC119545
Linda Prideaux appeared in Superior Court today and entered a plea of guilty to one count of Penal Code section 187 (Murder), stemming from the murder of Connie Souza, Prideaux’s mother, in San Jose on August 10, 2001. Souza died from multiple stab wounds. Prideaux also entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to one count of Penal Code section 205 (Aggravated Mayhem) related to the same incident. The Honorable Rene Navarro accepted Prideaux’s pleas with the concurrence of Deputy District Attorney Dana Overstreet and Prideaux’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Molly O’Neal. The dual pleas will result in Prideaux serving a term of life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder as well as being committed simultaneously to the California Department of Mental Health for life, or until such time as the Department of Mental Health deems her restored to sanity or treatable in the community. In the event of either of those findings by the Department of Mental Health, Prideaux will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections to continue serving her prison term. Prideaux was previously found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 1974 murder of her second husband and was committed to the California Department of Mental Health. Prideaux was released from a state mental hospital in that case in 1980 and received continued treatment in the community until 1990. Prideaux will be sentenced in the Superior Court on February 7, 2003 before the Honorable Rene Navarro. ###