SANTA ANA, Calif., March 3 (UPI) -- A jury in Orange County, Calif., said a woman should face the death penalty for fatally stabbing a fortune teller and her daughter over a bad fortune.
The Orange County Register said an Orange County Superior Court jury on Tuesday recommended Tanya Nelson, 45, face the death penalty at her scheduled March 26 sentencing over the 2005 deaths of Ha Smith, 52, and Anita Vo, 23.
Nelson was convicted in February of fatally stabbing Smith and her daughter in their home in Westminster, Calif., on April 23, 2005.
Authorities maintain Nelson, a mother of four, killed Smith because the fortune teller informed her she would be unable to grant her wish to rekindle a romance with Nelson's ex-boyfriend.
Authorities said Nelson also doused the two bodies with white paint after the killings and went on a shopping spree using Smith's credit cards.
The Register said Philippe Zamora, Nelson's accomplice in the 2005 crimes, pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges connected to the killings. Zamora, who is facing a possible life prison sentence, served as a witness for the prosecution in Nelson's trial.
