Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
On 20th Try, 87-Year-Old Tulare County Killer Approved for Parole
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 12 months ago on
June 26, 2024

Henry Valles Borbon, 87, served more than 45 years of his life sentence for participating in a 1975 double murder on Yokohl Drive near Exeter before winning his release Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (GV Wire Composite)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

On his 20th appearance before the parole board, an 87-year-old former Tulare County anti-poverty director convicted in a 1975 double murder, was approved for release on Tuesday.

Henry Valles Borbon, who is incarcerated at the California Substance Abuse Facility in Corcoran, won his freedom over the objections of the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office.

Borbon has served more than 45 years of his life sentence despite many years of appeals to overturn the conviction and engaging in headline-making courtroom maneuvers at trial.

In fact, Borbon’s original conviction was overturned, leading to a second trial and another conviction.

Testimony: Borbon Was Paid $1,000 to Assist in Murders

According to court records, on the afternoon of Feb. 28, 1975, Borbon and co-defendant Joe Perez murdered Richard Gaither and Rosie Sanchez on Yokohl Drive near Exeter.

The men drove their victims there in Perez’s car under the guise of a drug transaction, according to witness testimony. Borbon shot Gaither twice in the back of the head while Perez bludgeoned Sanchez, the mother of his children, with a hammer. When it was apparent that the blows were not fatal, Borbon stabbed Sanchez to death.

Her body was discovered days later floating in the Kings River near Stratford.

At trial, witnesses revealed that Perez — angered by Sanchez’s romantic relationship with Gaither — paid Borbon $1,000 to assist him with the murders.

In November 1978, a Tulare County jury convicted Borbon of two counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Co-defendant Perez was convicted of first-degree murder in Kern County and sentenced to death in 1976. Perez’s sentence later was commuted to life in prison.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Arrest Man in Dinuba Shooting

DON'T MISS

Fresno Murder Suspect Arrested in Madera County Following Shooting

DON'T MISS

Millions of Americans Like Trump Better in Theory Than in Practice

DON'T MISS

Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Complicit’ in Israel’s Attack on Iran

DON'T MISS

Fresno Stabbing Leads to 7-Hour SWAT Standoff and Arrest, Suspect Identified

DON'T MISS

A Look Inside Israel’s ‘Fortress of Zion’ Command Beneath Tel Aviv

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Make DUI Arrest, Cite 135 Drivers in Distracted Driving Crackdown

DON'T MISS

Russia Says US Has Cancelled Next Round of Talks on Easing Tensions

DON'T MISS

Protester Killed at Utah ‘No Kings’ Rally Was Fashion Designer From ‘Project Runway’

DON'T MISS

Possum the Wanderer Finds Her Groove After Tumor Surgery

UP NEXT

Fresno Murder Suspect Arrested in Madera County Following Shooting

UP NEXT

Millions of Americans Like Trump Better in Theory Than in Practice

UP NEXT

Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Complicit’ in Israel’s Attack on Iran

UP NEXT

Fresno Stabbing Leads to 7-Hour SWAT Standoff and Arrest, Suspect Identified

UP NEXT

A Look Inside Israel’s ‘Fortress of Zion’ Command Beneath Tel Aviv

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Make DUI Arrest, Cite 135 Drivers in Distracted Driving Crackdown

UP NEXT

Russia Says US Has Cancelled Next Round of Talks on Easing Tensions

UP NEXT

Protester Killed at Utah ‘No Kings’ Rally Was Fashion Designer From ‘Project Runway’

UP NEXT

Possum the Wanderer Finds Her Groove After Tumor Surgery

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Norman James Walker

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Complicit’ in Israel’s Attack on Iran

54 minutes ago

Fresno Stabbing Leads to 7-Hour SWAT Standoff and Arrest, Suspect Identified

1 hour ago

A Look Inside Israel’s ‘Fortress of Zion’ Command Beneath Tel Aviv

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Make DUI Arrest, Cite 135 Drivers in Distracted Driving Crackdown

2 hours ago

Russia Says US Has Cancelled Next Round of Talks on Easing Tensions

2 hours ago

Protester Killed at Utah ‘No Kings’ Rally Was Fashion Designer From ‘Project Runway’

2 hours ago

Possum the Wanderer Finds Her Groove After Tumor Surgery

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Norman James Walker

2 hours ago

JJ Spaun Turns a Free Fall into US Open Title at Rainy Oakmont

2 hours ago

Fresno Vehicle Fire Spreads to Garage, No Injuries Reported

2 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Arrest Man in Dinuba Shooting

Detectives with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man following a shooting near Dinuba on Friday. Just after 5:30 p.m., de...

12 minutes ago

Gilberto Lopez Mendez, 23, was arrested after pistol-whipping and shooting a victim in the leg near Dinuba on , with deputies recovering a converted fully automatic firearm. (Tulare County SO)
12 minutes ago

Tulare County Authorities Arrest Man in Dinuba Shooting

Fresno police have arrested Scott Alvarado, 41, in the shooting death of Nicholas Bolanos, 33, on Friday, June 13, 2025. (Fresno PD)
19 minutes ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Arrested in Madera County Following Shooting

Trump Takes Questions about Pope Image
29 minutes ago

Millions of Americans Like Trump Better in Theory Than in Practice

Economist Jeffrey Sachs warns of potential US-Iran war in an interview with Tucker Carlson (pictured), citing decades of Israeli-influenced foreign policy in the Middle East. (Shutterstock)
54 minutes ago

Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Complicit’ in Israel’s Attack on Iran

A man was slashed in the chin with a machete in a North Fresno apartment complex on Sunday, June 15, 2025,, prompting a seven-hour SWAT standoff that ended Monday, June 16, 2025. The suspect has been identified as Ronny Harris, 51. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Fresno Stabbing Leads to 7-Hour SWAT Standoff and Arrest, Suspect Identified

Officials inside the Israeli Army’s underground command bunker in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, May 21, 2021. A former leader in Israel’s top commando unit acknowledged that the distance from the battlefield could create indifference to human lives. (Dan Balilty/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

A Look Inside Israel’s ‘Fortress of Zion’ Command Beneath Tel Aviv

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Make DUI Arrest, Cite 135 Drivers in Distracted Driving Crackdown

National flags of Russia and the U.S. fly at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia April 11, 2017. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Russia Says US Has Cancelled Next Round of Talks on Easing Tensions

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend