Parole denied for 19th time in 1975 double murder

On Friday at a virtual hearing, Tulare County District Attorney prosecutors secured a 3-year denial of parole for Henry Borbon, 85. Borbon is currently serving a life sentence at the California Substance Abuse Facility in Corcoran.

In the afternoon of February 28, 1975, Borbon and co-defendant Joe Perez murdered victims Richard Gaither and Rosie Sanchez on Yokohl Drive near Exeter. The men drove the victims to this location in Perez’s car under the guise of a drug transaction.

Borbon shot Gaither twice in the back of the head on the side of the road while Perez bludgeoned Sanchez, the mother of his children, with a hammer. When it was apparent the blows were not fatal, Borbon stabbed Sanchez to death. Her body was discovered days later floating in the Kings River near Stratford.

Witnesses to events before and after the crime led to the men’s arrests. At trial, further witness testimony revealed Perez, angered by Sanchez’s romantic relationship with Gaither, paid Borbon $1,000 to assist him with the murders.

In November 1978, Borbon was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Co-defendant Perez was convicted of firstdegree murder in Kern County and was sentenced to death in 1976. His death sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

This was Borbon’s 19th parole hearing. The Office of the District Attorney regularly attends life parole hearings and a deputy district attorney argued against the Borbon’s release in this case.