(BCN) — A Marina man was sentenced to over 20 years in prison earlier this month after being found guilty of multiple crimes in 2013 at California State University Monterey Bay housing, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said on Nov. 30 of 2013, 43-year-old Clyde Whitfield, accused his girlfriend of cheating and hit her several times in the head and strangled her until she would give him the “name” of the person with whom she was allegedly unfaithful with.
According to prosecutors, after the victim gave Whitfield the alleged name, Whitfield threatened to lock her in the trunk of his car, drive it to a field and set it ablaze.
Over the next three hours, Whitfield proceeded to smother the victim with a pillow and strangle her two more times in an attempt to solicit further admissions, prosecutors said
The victim then motioned towards her cellphone when Whitfield told her she would be dead before the police could arrive if she attempted to contact the authorities.
Prosecutors said it wasn’t until Whitfield went to the restroom that she made her escape running out of the house toward Imjin Parkway and was able to flag down three college students who escorted her to safety and called CSUMB police.
During this time, Whitfield called 9-1-1 and falsely accused the victim of domestic abuse before fleeing the area in the victim’s car. Prosecutors said he was located several hours later in a parking lot at Monterey Peninsula College.
The victim suffered from a perforated eardrum as well as bruises to her arms, chest and eye area.
Whitfield was found guilty of domestic violence, criminal threats, dissuasion of a witness and auto theft and will serve 20 years and four months in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Prosecutors said Whitfield had also previously been convicted of a strike offense in 2007 when he held a knife to the throat of a family member and three robbery strike convictions from 1992-1994.