Shawkey Gets Life Without Parole

A 47-year-old Virginia man will live out the rest of his life in a California prison for murdering a Phoenix man last seen alive in Dana Point. The victim’s brother lives in Hermosa Beach.

Gary A. Shawkey of Mechanicsville, VA, was sentenced Friday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. A jury convicted him June 21 of murdering Robert Vendrick for money.

The jury also found him guilty of one felony count of grand theft, and of a special sentencing enhancement for stealing more than $200,000.

The judge ordered the defendant to pay $200,000 to the Vendrick family, and signed an order seizing $79,000 from Shawkey, turning it over to the victim's survivors.

But it's unlikely Shawkey will have the ability to pay the $200,000, said Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh outside the courtroom. 

Hermosa Beach resident Fred Vendrick, the victim's brother, said after the hearing that he doesn't consider his brother's killer evil and doesn't harbor any strong feelings of anger toward him.

"My feelings are not of animosity, but deep sadness,'' he said. "He seems like a forlorn soul. Why did he have to do what he did?'' 

Vendrick also dismissed Shawkey's claims over the years that the victim is still alive.

"That's just a ruse. He knows he killed him,'' Fred Vendrick said.

Over the course of their business relationship, Shawkey stole $1.2 million from 71-year-old Robert Vendrick, who was retired from the software industry, according to Orange County prosecutors. 

When Vendrick became skeptical of the investments, Shawkey convinced him to fly to Orange County to finalize a secret investment deal with the federal government.

The two arrived in Orange County in February 2008 and set sail out of Dana Point Harbor to San Clemente Island; supposedly to meet with federal agents to complete a purported software deal with the government.

At some point during the trip, prosecutors say, Shawkey killed Vendrick and dumped his body at sea. The body was never found.

A year later, Shawkey was arrested in Virginia on unrelated theft charges. He was in custody in Virginia when charges were filed against him in Orange County for the murder of Vendrick that same month. He was extradited to Orange County on March 26, 2009.

Fred Vendrick said he was shocked when he found out Shawkey bilked his "very intelligent" brother out of so much of his life savings over the years.

"He's able to take over people's lives,'' Vendrick said.

He added that his brother "was a very likeable person'' who was always 
attentive to others.

"He was the kind of person who made you feel important,'' Vendrick
 said. "He was just a loving brother... He was a great person who made bad choices.''

Prosecutor Baytieh said he felt "wonderful” about the conviction and punishment sentenced to Shawkey.

"This was a con man who wasn't able to con the system,” the prosecutor said. "Shawkey was the type of person who ‘thought he was smarter than he actually was.’”

Deputy Public Defender Brian Waite declined comment on his client's sentence. 

-- City News Service contributed to this story.