Charles George, age 32 of Seaside, was found guilty of the 1996 murder of Victor Manuel Gutierrez in Marina.

The shooting of Gutierrez occurred during a drug deal involving a half of a kilo of cocaine on June 9, 1996. Marina Police believed George to be a prime suspect throughout its investigation in 1996, however, many witnesses were uncooperative with law enforcement, not wanting to admit their involvement with the drug transaction.

Investigator Margaret Basa of the Marina Police Department, who worked on the original homicide investigation, reopened the investigation in 1997. Through the efforts of Marina Police Detectives Basa, Whitaker and Moreno, numerous witnesses were re-contacted, several of whom were more cooperative after the passage of ten years.

Additionally Detective Richard Cohon of the Seaside Police Department was instrumental in securing additional evidence including several admissions from George.

George will be sentenced by Judge Robert Moody on December 4, 2009, and faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.