By Bill Enfield
benfield@sacbee.com
A killer who beat and shot to death one man and then sexually assaulted a woman before shooting her is due a parole hearing this month.
Roosevelt Virgil Vinson, now 49, is serving a life sentence for killing Jessie James Turner, 30, in February 1979 in a south Sacramento apartment, The Bee reported.
Police said Vinson also handcuffed Turner's 16-year-old girlfriend - Tenner "Tina" Smith - to a bed, sexually assaulted her and shot her in the head. She survived and was a key witness against Vinson.
However, in 1980 Smith was found beaten and strangled in a Santa Clara County motel room. The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office was unable to determine if anyone had been prosecuted in Smith's death because the office's computerized archives do not go back that far.
Vinson also received a nine-year sentence for sexual assault and attempted murder along with a two-year sentence for using a gun while committing a crime.
Vinson's hearing will be Dec. 6 at the Correctional Training Facility at Soledad where he is incarcerated.
If you want to give your opinion of an inmate's suitability for parole, you may mail a letter to:
Martin Hoshino, executive director
Board of Parole Hearings
1515 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
For more information on the Board of Parole Hearings, go to:
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/BOPH/index.html
Bee researcher Linda Beymer contributed to this report
Call The Bee's Bill Enfield, (916) 321-1058.









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