Appeal denied for Sonoma man who killed woman and set fire to house

<p>A state appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a 37-year-old Sonoma man who killed his prescription pill supplier and set fire to her house to try to cover it up.</p><p>John M. Wayne was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2006 killing of April Denton, 52, at her home on Mountain View Avenue near Santa Rosa.</p><p>After robbing Denton, shooting her in the neck while she slept and cutting her throat, Wayne returned to the home with two other people and used gasoline to burn her house. Denton's two dogs were killed in the blaze.</p><p>The case went to trial last year. The two people with Wayne, Steven King, 31, and then 17-year-old Johanna Persi, testified against him in proceedings that stretched out for five weeks. </p><p>King testified that Wayne approached him and said, “Look, I just killed someone and I need help cleaning it up.” King described the revelation from his friend as “kind of like just a mind-blowing experience.”</p><p>A jury convicted Wayne after a single day of deliberation.</p><p>In his appeal, Wayne argued the trial judge erred by not instructing jurors to determine if one of the witnesses, Persi, was an accomplice whose testimony required corroboration.</p><p>But the three-judge panel disagreed, saying it was never proven that Persi assisted in the crime in any way. Persi testified that she thought they were going to a friend's house and she had no idea what was going to happen.</p><p>The judge had given such instruction about King, who helped siphon the gas for the fire because he testified he was “good at it.”</p><p>He pleaded to arson and being an accessory and was sentenced to eight years in prison.</p><p>Persi was not charged in connection with the case.</p>