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Criminal

Mar. 28, 2009

Pro Bono Lawyers Race to Free Dying Murderer

Deborah Peagler, a 49-year-old former prostitute, is serving 25-years-to-life for the murder of Owen Wilson, her alleged pimp and live-in boyfriend who was beaten to death by gangsters in 1982. Lawyers are trying to secure her release before she dies of cancer so she can spend her last months living in freedom.

By Greg Katz
Daily Journal Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - For San Francisco attorney Nadia Costa, what began as a pro bono side-project is now a race against death.

In 2002, the Bingham McCutchen land-use lawyer took on the case of Deborah Peagler, a former prostitute serving 25-years-to-life for the murder of her alleged pimp and abuser. But after years of parole hearings, legal wranglings and a heartbreaking recant by the Los Angeles district attorn...

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