SANTA ANA A 40-year-old Westminster man who has spent more than half of his adult life behind bars was tentatively sentenced on Friday to 80 years in prison for the shooting death of his uncle.
On the night of March 8, 2015, Daniel Lee Duvall got into a heated argument with his 56-year-old uncle, Frank “Dino” Duvall, at a birthday party. They were at the Westminster home of Doris Duvall – the uncle’s mother and Daniel Duvall’s grandmother.
A prosecutor, in court documents, said the argument apparently started over the uncle’s treatment of his adult daughter, who was born addicted to drugs and suffers from mental illness.
“Duvall would yell sharply and criticize his uncle Frank for not taking better care of (the daughter) and not taking her to the doctor,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim Mendelson wrote.
The argument escalated as several people at the party tried to hold back the nephew as he yelled at his uncle, the prosecutor said. The two struggled and crashed into a big-screen television.
The two eventually went outside so as to not upset Doris Duvall, 82 at the time.
The uncle retreated into his van parked outside the home, at which point Daniel Duvall pulled out a handgun and shot him in the back, Mendelson said.
People at the party witnessed the incident but nobody initially called for help and Frank Duvall was left in his van to bleed to death, the prosecutor said.
“Nobody came to help him,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger said in her courtroom on Friday. “They left him in the car to die alone. I find that really tragic.”
After the shooting, Daniel Duvall fled on his motorcycle as his girlfriend, Tina Arbogast, 49, took his gun for him and returned to the home, where she told party-goers to “keep your mouth shut,” Mendelson said.
Arbogast has been charged with one felony count of being an accessory after the fact and is due in court on June 23.
A jury in February found Daniel Duvall guilty of first-degree murder.
In court documents, Mendelson noted his lengthy criminal history that includes six prior felony convictions, such as a being a felon in possession of a firearm and burglary.
Daniel Duvall’s father and the uncle’s brother, Daniel Duvall Sr., was in jail on drug charges at the time of the murder. In court, Daniel Duvall Sr. said his brother didn’t deserve to die.
“He was a good man, he would do anything for you,” he said.
While Daniel Duvall will be sentenced to 80 years in prison, the judge on Friday agreed to postpone the official sentencing to June, allowing the younger Duvall to temporarily remain in custody in Orange County so his severely ill father can visit him.
The killer’s aunt and Frank Duvall’s sister, Darlene Gallaher, fought back tears in court as she asked her nephew how he could kill his own uncle – a man who cared for him while his father was incarcerated many times over the years.
“The death of Dino has put this family in a spiral of emotions,” she said.