Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
On 20th Try, 87-Year-Old Tulare County Killer Approved for Parole
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 1 year 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

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

UP NEXT

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

UP NEXT

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

UP NEXT

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

UP NEXT

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

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

Wanted Fugitive Found Hiding in Attic Arrested in Chowchilla

36 minutes ago

Trump Says US Will Impose 25% Tariffs on Japan, South Korea

1 hour ago

Wall Street Knocked Lower by Tariff Jitters, Musk’s Political Plan Hurts Tesla

1 hour ago

Trial Over Free Speech on Campus, and Trump’s Student Crackdown, Begins

1 hour ago

Planned Parenthood Sues Trump Administration Over Planned Defunding

2 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Injures 1 Firefighter, Burns Over 80,000 Acres

2 hours ago

Two Border Patrol Officers Injured After Gunman Opens Fire in Texas

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 9 at Independence Day DUI Checkpoint

2 hours ago

Schumer Wants Probe of National Weather Service Response in Texas

2 hours ago

Israeli Guilt Over Gaza Lurks Beneath Silence and Denial

2 hours ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

WASHINGTON – A 27-year-old Michigan man was shot dead by police after opening fire with an assault rifle on a U.S. Border Patrol stati...

34 seconds ago

Breaking News from Reuters
34 seconds ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

The Flume Fire in Sequoia National Forest has burned 65 acres near Highway 190 with no containment as of Monday, July 7, 2025, prompting evacuations in Tulare County. (CalFire)
11 minutes ago

Tulare County Flume Fire Burns 65 Acres in Sequoia National Forest, Evacuation Order Issued

Firefighters stopped the forward progress of the Fish Fire near Avocado Lake after it burned 15 acres Monday, July 7, 2025, reaching 50% containment. (CalFire)
27 minutes ago

Fresno County Fish Fire Burns 15 Acres Near Avocado Lake, 50% Contained

Gary White, 42, a wanted fugitive, was arrested in Chowchilla after deputies found him hiding in an attic and he surrendered without incident on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Madera County SO)
36 minutes ago

Wanted Fugitive Found Hiding in Attic Arrested in Chowchilla

Containers on a cargo ship are pictured at an industrial port in Tokyo, Japan, July 2, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Says US Will Impose 25% Tariffs on Japan, South Korea

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 30, 2025. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
1 hour ago

Wall Street Knocked Lower by Tariff Jitters, Musk’s Political Plan Hurts Tesla

Protesters march near the campus of Columbia University in upper Manhattan to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia student, on March 14, 2025. A federal judge in Boston on Monday, July 7, 2025, will hear opening statements in a trial expected to present the foremost challenge to the Trump administration’s aggressive posture toward foreign students who espoused pro-Palestinian views. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times)
1 hour ago

Trial Over Free Speech on Campus, and Trump’s Student Crackdown, Begins

Activists for Planned Parenthood demonstrate as the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in South Carolina's bid to cut off public funding to Planned Parenthood, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Planned Parenthood Sues Trump Administration Over Planned Defunding

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

Search

Send this to a friend