Darren Lawrence Lee, one of four participants in perhaps the most heinous double murder in Stanislaus County history, was granted parole last week – more than 45 years later.
During the Jan. 9 parole hearing – the convict’s ninth – at San Quentin State Prison, members of the parole board determined that Lee qualifies for elderly parole and youthful offender considerations, and feels he is safe being released into society.
Lee, now 61, was convicted for his participation in the brutal slayings of husband and wife Phillip and Kathryn Ranzo, in Modesto.
“The depravity and senselessness of this crime shocked our community in 1979, and once again the Ranzo family and our community find themselves re-traumatized and shocked by the decision to release Lee,” said Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero.
The brutal murders took place on June 25, 1979 at the north Modesto home of Phillip and Kathryn Ranzo at 1404 Fernview Avenue. Lee, Marty Don Spears, Ronald Ray Anderson and Jeffrey Maria gained access to the young couple’s property and tortured both before killing them. Philip Ranzo was a 30-year-old pharmacist who worked at City Pharmacy in downtown Modesto. He was the son of Marie Kathryn Rhodes Ranzo who worked as a nurse’s aide at the Memorial Hospital Ceres and who attended St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Ceres. Kathryn was the 29-year-old owner of the Hair Refinery beauty shop on Coffee Road. She was the daughter of Turlock Police Officer Joseph Moore and graduated from Turlock High School in 1967.
The teenage suspects targeted the Ranzos, believing them to have large amounts of cash in their home. They showed up at the couple’s door, pretending to be out of gas and needing a phone to call for help. Acting as a Good Samaritan, Mr. Ranzo directed them to his garage to retrieve a can of gas. Maria and Spears then drew a gun on Mr. Ranzo and hogtied him. Prosecutors say they used his 10-year-old son’s baseball bat to brutally beat him in head six times and torturing him with a hatchet – slicing his throat and eyelids. He was also stabbed in the neck. Spears, Lee and Maria then entered the Ranzo home where Spears forced Kathryn Ranzo at gunpoint into her upstairs bedroom where she was tied up and raped. An autopsy showed that she had been struck multiple times in the head with an axe and suffered a fatal stab wound to the throat as well as multiple cuts to her eyelids and face.
The suspects then ransacked the home, stealing cash, jewelry and a gun. They left without calling for aid for the dying couple.
The bodies, both hogtied were discovered the next day.
The murders orphaned the Ranzos’ 10-year-old child, Mark, who was spending the night at his grandparents’ house when the murders took place.
Pre-trial publicity caused the trial to be moved to Sacramento County on a change of venue. In 1980, a Sacramento County Superior Court jury convicted Lee of the murders, and he was sentenced to two concurrent sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Lee’s sentence was modified, and he was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 25 years to life.
At the parole hearing, Prosecutor Amy Neumann argued that Lee should not be a free man, saying he needed additional insight into the role he played in the killings, more victim impact programming, and more sustained drug rehabilitation programming.
Surviving members of the victims’ family also attended the hearing and asked the board to deny the parole. The family has attended 33 parole board hearings and other post-conviction hearings for Lee and his crime partners.
The parole process requires the board’s decision to advances to the Decision Review Unit of the Board of Parole Hearings, which has 120 days to review the grant of parole. If the unit approves the grant of parole, Gov. Gavin Newsom will receive notice of the parole grant and has 30 days to reverse, modify or let the grant of parole stand.
Community who wish to comment on Lee’s potential parole release are encouraged to contact Governor Gavin Newsom, 1021 O Street, Suite 9000, Sacramento CA 95814; phone 916-445-2841 or go online at https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ (Scroll down to the comment subject “Parole – Governors Review” and include Darren Lawrence Lee, CDCR #C16213.)
You may also contact the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Board of Parole Hearings, P.O. Box 4036, Sacramento CA 95812-4036, call 916-445-4072 or email BPH.CorrespondenceUnit@cdcr.ca.gov.
