Woman Who Murdered Singer Jailed for Life

Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted on Monday of murdering the Tejano music singer Selena, was sentenced today to the maximum of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 30 years.

            Asked by the judge, Mike Westergren of State District Court of Nueces County, if she had anything to say before the sentence was imposed, Ms. Saldivar, 35, said, "No, sir," then hung her head and began to cry.

            The chief prosecutor, Carlos Valdez, said afterward that the jury had sent a message that "this type of behavior will not be tolerated in an organized society."

            Ms. Saldivar's lawyer, Doug Tinker, said after meeting privately with the jurors, "They told me they thought she was guilty and should get life."

            The jury of six men and six women, which deliberated for two hours before convicting Ms. Saldivar of first-degree murder, took nine hours over two days to decide on the sentence. At the start of the trial the defense exercised its option under state law to have the jury, rather than the judge, decide the sentence, which the judge could not reject or modify.

            Although Texas has the death penalty, it did not apply because Selena's killing lacked the sort of aggravating circumstances that would have made it a capital crime here.

            In final arguments in the trial's sentencing phase on Wednesday, the defense urged the jury to consider probation, the minimum sentence for a person like Ms. Saldivar with no criminal record.

            "No one benefits from sending Yolanda Saldivar to prison," said her lawyer, Mr. Tinker, adding that his client was "horribly remorseful."

            But a prosecutor, Mark Skurka, urged the jurors to give Ms. Saldivar "what she took: life."

            Because of Selena's popularity in both Mexico and the United States, the case drew intense publicity, causing the trial to be moved to Houston from Corpus Christi, where the singer lived and died.

            Testimony in the trial showed that Ms. Saldivar, the founder and former president of Selena's fan club, was confronted on March 9 by relatives of the 23-year-old singer, whose full name was Selena Quintanilla Perez. They accused Ms. Saldivar of embezzling money from Selena's business interests. Prosecutors say they plan to bring those allegations before a grand jury as soon as possible.

            Two days later, Ms. Saldivar put a $100 deposit on a pistol, which she picked up later in the month. At a meeting in a Corpus Christi motel on March 31, Ms. Saldivar shot Selena once in the back.

            The defense asserted that it was the accidental act of a distraught woman. But motel employees testified that Ms. Saldivar had gone after the singer with the gun drawn.