Juan Corona, who became the nation's most prolific serial killer when he was convicted in 1971 of killing and burying the bodies of 25 California farm laborers, died Monday at age 85.
Corona died Monday at an undisclosed hospital, Vicky Waters of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported. He had been serving a life sentence at a state prison in Corcoran, California, before he was hospitalized.
The farm laborer contractor was convicted of killing 25 farm workers, including many he'd hired, and burying their bodies in shallow graves on orchards and farms along the Feather River, north of Sacramento.
File - Juan Corona, is seen in this Jan. 23, 1987, file photo in Soledad, Calif., during a parole hearing. California State Prison-Corcoran inmate Corona, 85, died of natural causes on Monday, March 4, 2019, at an outside hospital. Corona was serving 25 concurrent life sentences for 25 counts of first-degree murder. His victims were all farm workers. (AP PhotoEric Risberg, File)
Most were stabbed and hacked to death. One was shot in the head.
Corona was arrested after a peach farmer who had contracted with him for hired pickers became suspicious upon finding a hole that had been freshly dug and then quickly filled in.
The farmer called authorities, suspicious someone was burying garbage in his orchard. Instead they found the body of a man whose head had been hacked and his torso riddled with stab wounds.
In this March 23, 2018, photo released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is Juan Vallejo Corona. California State Prison-Corcoran inmate Corona, 85, died of natural causes on Monday, March 4, 2019, at an outside hospital. Corona was serving 25 concurrent life sentences for 25 counts of first-degree murder. His victims were all farm workers. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP)
Corona was arrested a week later and subsequent searches turned up the bodies of 24 more people, including several Corona had recruited for farm work.
He was convicted of 25 counts of murder in 1971 and sentenced to 25 concurrent life sentences.
He nearly died in a prison stabbing two years later that cost him the sight in his left eye.
In 1978 an appeals court overturned Corona's conviction, ruling he had received incompetent representation from his attorney.
He remained incarcerated while he was retried and was convicted again in 1982 on the same 25 counts.
He would be denied parole eight times, most recently in 2016.
"It was a gruesome manner of killing. He hacked these people to death," Sutter County District Attorney Amanda Hopper told The Associated Press after attending Corona's last parole hearing.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two-time defending champion Amber Glenn set the record for a women's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday night, giving her a narrow lead over world champion Alysa Liu heading into the free skate.
Liu had broken the record mere minutes earlier with a score of 81.11 points, earning a standing ovation from a crowd packed into the home of the St. Louis Blues. But then Glenn took the ice and was flawless from an opening triple axel to a finishing combination spin, earning 83.05 points, a hug from coach Damon Allen and a standing ovation of her own.
“I knew that I came here to do my job,” Glenn said, “and I was happy to see that scores were up, scores were good, and I was able to keep them going up. I felt a responsibility to keep it going better and better and better.”
Glenn wound up being the best.
Isabeau Levito was third with 75.72 points on the opening night of the national championships, which are the last opportunity for skaters to impress the U.S. Figure Skating officials who will decide the team for the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday.
The dance competition gets started Thursday night alongside the men's short program.
The 26-year-old Glenn, who four years ago missed nationals and a shot at the Beijing Games because of COVID-19, channeled her trademark power and emotion into a program set to “Like A Prayer” by Madonna. Glenn followed her axel with a triple flip-triple toe loop, and her triple loop merely catapulted her into a rollicking finish to an energetic program.
Allen was waiting for her rinkside, dressed in a maroon suit to match Glenn's dazzling maroon dress.
“Of course I feel ecstatic. The score was huge,” Glenn said. “My grandma passed last year and she was with me from day one, and I just felt it today, and I'm not usually one of those people that says it, but I felt like I had something help me today.”
Glenn's showcase came on the heels of a similarly splendid performance from the 20-year-old Liu, who finished sixth at the Beijing Games, then stepped away from the sport entirely because of burnout, but is in the midst of a remarkable comeback.
Last year, she became the first American world champion since Kimmie Meissner in 2006.
Now, Liu is among a few U.S. hopefuls trying to deliver women's Olympic gold for the first time since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
Liu performed the same short program from last year's world championships, opening with a whirling triple flip, landing a solid double axel and finishing with what coach Phillip DiGuglielmo called her best triple lutz-triple loop of the season.
“I'm really happy with the lutz,” Liu said. “That was good. That was real good.”
Levito, the 2023 champion and a former world silver medalist, had to withdraw from nationals last year because of injury. But she looked as if she had never missed a day, performing with style and grace to a medley of music honoring Sophia Loren.
“I felt really happy with myself that I did my job,” Levito said. “I feel like I'm in a really good place right now.”
Earlier in the night, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov began defense of their U.S. pairs title with a near-perfect short program, leaving them nearly eight points clear of the field as they hold out hope of making the American team for the Winter Games.
While the 28-year-old Mitrofanov was born in the U.S., his 26-year-old partner was born in Finland. And despite the couple having wed in early 2024, and Efimova getting a green card approved that summer, she is still waiting for the U.S. to decide whether to waive a three-year waiting period to become a citizen — one of the requirements to represent a nation in the Olympics.
But time is running out before U.S. Figure Skating must announce its Olympic team on Sunday.
“We’re hoping maybe a last-minute miracle might happen,” Mitrofanov said.
Efimova and Mitrofanov seemed to glide inside Enterprise Center on Wednesday night. They opened their short program with a beautiful triple twist, landed their side-by-side triple toe loop in sync, their throw triple loop covered a long expanse of ice, and they finished by pumping their firsts as their music came to a close.
They wound up with a season-best 75.31 points, while Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy were second with 67.67, Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea right behind with 67.13, and Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez were within podium reach with 67.03.
“We're definitely very proud with how we skated tonight. The crowd was amazing,” Mitrofanov said. “We really trusted each other. We trusted our training. I was a little more nervous than normal, to be honest, and I was proud of Alisa holding my hand throughout.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Alysa Liu competes during the women's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Amber Glenn reacts after competing during the women's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Amber Glenn competes during the women's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez compete during the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe compete during the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea compete during the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
