Cypress Man Found Guilty of Double Murder

SANTA ANA — A 22-year-old Cypress man was convicted Wednesday of a double murder in which a drum-store owner and a business associate were gunned down when they interrupted a burglary.

Timothy Kelly faces life in prison without possibility of parole when he is sentenced for the Feb. 29, 1992, slayings of Robert George Wrate, 51, of Orange and Raymon Kim Johnson, 42, of Whittier.

The bodies were discovered in Wrate’s home in the 1100 block of North Ridgeline Road.

Wrate was the owner of West Coast Drum Center in Santa Ana, one of the largest drum stores in Southern California. He and Johnson had stopped by Wrate’s home when they stumbled upon the burglary, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko said.

Kelly is the only person convicted in the slaying, but another man, Ernest Garcia, 31, of San Diego, remains under investigation, Molko said. There is evidence that Kelly learned of valuables kept at the Wrate home from Garcia, who had performed odd jobs for Wrate, Molko said.

“The main motive here was greed,” Molko said. “It was a vicious killing to eliminate witnesses. (Kelly) didn’t expect anyone to come home.”

Kelly was arrested about three months after the slaying because of comments he made to a police informant and stolen property that was recovered and linked to him, Molko said.

Kelly is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 20.