Webthe california supreme court on monday upheld the death sentence of a man who was convicted of raping and murdering an antioch woman who was walking. Webrobert frazier became the 19th contra costa defendant to be sentenced to death since california reinstated the death penalty in 1978. The case was profiled in. Webwhen kathie mccormack durst, the young wife of a manhattan real estate heir, vanished from her westchester county, n. y. , home on a cold, rainy night in 1982,. Webrobert ward frazier, 42, did not visibly react when contra costa county superior court judge john minney pronounced the sentence in a martinez courtroom. Webman given death in rape, slaying of hiker jurors: Webafter learning about natasha ryan’s disappearance, read about brian shaffer, who mysteriously disappeared from an ohio bar. Then, learn the baffling case. Webrobert ward frazier was convicted by a jury of the murder, forcible rape, and forcible sodomy of kathleen loreck. Webthe california supreme court on monday upheld the death sentence of a man who was convicted of raping and murdering an antioch woman who was walking down a trail in 2003 when she was dragged into.