Man sentenced for double homicide in West Hills

Gregory Douglas Miner, 32, was sentenced Dec. 18, 2007, to two consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of an elderly couple, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

William Lasky, 76, and his wife, Bertha, 73, were stabbed to death, Feb. 5, 2001, in the 7200 block of Pomelo Drive in West Hills, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

In November 2007, after a 15-day trial, Miner was found guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery and one count of burglary with special circumstances.

Miner was accused of breaking into the Laskys' home with possibly two accomplices and stealing electronics, cameras and jewelry before being confronted by William Lasky.

According to Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels, Miner entered the home through an open door in the garage after Bertha left to go shopping. When she returned, she found William being held at knifepoint and her home ransacked.

Police said the robbers then drove the couple's 1995 Buick Regal for 50 miles before returning to the house to set it on fire, apparently to destroy evidence of the crime. Firefighters found the couple's bodies after responding to reports of a blaze at the house.

Miner who confessed to the killings, citing burglary as the main motive, was the only one charged in January 2004.

-- Maloy Moore and Tiffany Hsu