A Decade Later, Man Pleads Guilty to Wife’s Murder

VAN NUYS — Making a deal to avoid the death penalty, former Army paratrooper Guy Dean Bouck pleaded guilty to the 1987 murder of his wife--a plea coming three years after a probate judge ruled that he committed the crime.

The plea agreement accepted by Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey C. Jonas means Bouck, 47, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, rather than execution.

The case was unusual in many respects, including the civil court finding of liability long before Bouck was criminally charged.

Bouck’s bid to inherit his wife’s estate was blocked largely through the efforts of her brother, Jack Shine, a wealthy Encino real estate developer.

Shine, frustrated that the slaying of Stephanie Bouck, 46, had not been solved, spent $850,000 on the civil case on behalf of his niece, Deborah Carll, who discovered her mother’s body.

In 1995, a year after the civil case concluded, Bouck was charged with murder with special circumstances by a Los Angeles County Grand Jury after Bouck’s alibi witness recanted her story.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys Tuesday declined to comment on Bouck’s guilty plea, which he entered late Monday. Both sides are due back in court Dec. 1 before Superior Court Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt for a trial on the four special-circumstance allegations. At that time, the judge will decide the punishment.

Citing the ongoing case, Shine said he will not comment until Bouck is sentenced.

Shine vigorously pursued Bouck after Shine’s sister was found dead, sprawled on her bed in the couple’s Canyon Country home on Jan. 3, 1987. She had been shot four times.

Police believed they had evidence that her killer had been lying in wait. They eventually alleged that Bouck surprised her with a gun hidden under his pillow and that he inflicted torture by restraining her and bending back her thumbs.

Bouck was arrested almost immediately. But with no fingerprints, no witnesses and no murder weapon, police released him 48 hours later when the district attorney’s office declined to press charges.

Complicating matters for authorities, a girlfriend provided an alibi, telling police she had been with Bouck at the time of the killing.

With the case stalled, Shine took matters into his own hands and fought Bouck in probate court for years.

When it was over, Shine had not only blocked Bouck’s claim to his wife’s estate, he had given authorities more ammunition--including a revised time of death and statements challenging Bouck’s version of events--to build a criminal case.

A key point in the case was Bouck’s conviction for raping the alibi witness. He is currently serving a 13-year sentence.

Records showed that Bouck had a history of physical abuse against women and children dating back to 1971, when he was investigated for the beating death of his stepson.

In 1977, he was convicted of abusing a girlfriend’s daughter, a charge that was later withdrawn when he completed probation and was granted a pardon.

Following the probate case, the criminal case against Bouck gained steam when his former girlfriend told the grand jury that Bouck had confessed to her. She claimed to have repressed the memory of the admission for years because he drugged her and threatened her life.

In January 1995, the grand jury charged that Bouck killed his wife for financial gain, including an $80,000 life insurance policy and the couple’s $180,000 home.

Authorities said that Stephanie Bouck planned to divorce her husband but feared his temper. Just weeks before his wife’s killing, Bouck threatened members of her family and said he would blow up the couple’s home if Stephanie retained ownership of it after their divorce.