Parole Granted To Man Convicted Of Attempted Murder Of Good Samaritan

NAPA COUNTY, CA — A man convicted of attempted murder in 1996 in Napa County was granted parole after a June 14 hearing held via videoconference at Mule Creek State Prison, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley announced Thursday.

David Stander, now 45 years old, was convicted of attempted murder in the stabbing and carjacking of 68-year-old Napa resident Ed Barkhurst on Feb. 5, 1996. Barkhurst rescued Stander and his co-defendant from a car crash. The Good Samaritan then took Stander and Xx to his home in Napa, provided refreshments and a phone, and offered to drive them back to Fairfield.

"In return, Stander stabbed the innocent victim several times and left him for dead," Napa County District Attorney's Office Spokesperson Carlos Villatoro said. "Fortunately, Barkhurst was airlifted for emergency surgery and made a full recovery after 12 days in the hospital."

Stander was 18 years old when he pleaded guilty in 1996 to attempted murder, carjacking and the use of a deadly weapon, and was sentenced by Napa County Judge Ronald Young to 6 years to life in prison.

Stander's co-defendant who was in the car accident with him was a juvenile at the time of the incident, therefore, the county will not release his name, Villatoro said.

In 1999, when Stander was in his early 20s, he was sentenced to 12 consecutive years in state prison based on two separate stabbing incidents of fellow inmates. He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon while a prisoner at Pelican Bay.

Stander was denied parole in 2017 and 2020, but the Parole Board advanced both hearing dates on its own motion, citing a change of circumstances.

Napa County Assistant District Attorney Paul Gero appeared at the hearing and argued against Stander's release based upon the cruelty and callousness of the attempted murder and carjacking, his continued lack of insight into the attempted killing, his violent conduct in prison, and the unreasonable danger he presents to the community should he be paroled, the DA's Office said.

Nevertheless, the Parole Board found that Stander was suitable for parole and was not an unreasonable risk of danger to society if released from prison — noting his youth at the time of the crime, his demonstrated change, and his acceptance of responsibility.

In 2009, a three-judge panel on prison overcrowding ordered California to reduce its prison population. The decision was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. As a result, a variety of programs were instituted to reduce prison populations, including medical parole, compassionate relief, elder parole and youth offender parole. With the latter, inmates who were younger than 26 when they committed their crime/s can receive an earlier parole hearing where “great weight” is given to an inmate’s diminished culpability as a juvenile as compared to an adult, the hallmark features of youth and any subsequent growth and increased maturity.

"Inmates are eligible even in serious, violent sex crimes and non-special circumstance murders," Villatoro said. "This is of great concern to victims in these cases."

The favorable parole decision will be reviewed by the Board of Parole Hearings and can be reviewed by the governor.