From the archives

The property manager accused of savagely murdering the Millbrae couple who were both his friends and longtime employers after they learned he was stealing money was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole the week of Dec. 20, 2008.

Joseph George Cua, 54, was convicted of two counts first-degree murder and the special allegation of committing multiple murders in the June 13, 2006, deaths of Fernand and Suzanne Wagner, a 78-year-old investor and his 68-year-old part-time hairstylist wife. Cua also received two extra years for allegations he used a knife on the couple although it hardly matters since the primary counts brought a mandatory term of life in prison without parole.

According to the prosecution, Fernand Wagner learned the week before the killings that his bank accounts were missing funds. Cua was in charge of collecting rent money but allegedly charged tenants more than he was depositing, pocketing the rest for a lifestyle of expensive cars and both a Southern California wife and Bay Area girlfriend.

County structural

deficit ballooning

The week of Dec. 20, 2008, the county’s structural deficit had ballooned $22.5 million under the weight of drooping property tax, falling home sales and nearly 500 percent more property reassessments than the year prior.

The $41.1 million estimated deficit for 2009 could worsen even more once state budget information is factored into the equation, Budget Director Jim Sacco said at a Board of Supervisors’ budget study session that week.

The county’s structural deficit was no secret, as County Manager John Maltbie had continually emphasized throughout the year the need to curb what was then a $28.6 million estimate. Without action, he cautioned, the figure would swell to $92.1 million in the next five years.

Supervisors appoint

Carole Groom to vacancy

County supervisors appointed San Mateo Councilwoman Carole Groom to fill the vacant District two seat the week of Dec. 20, 2008, despite strong calls for an election by more than two dozen groups, leaders and even one sitting member of the board.

Groom’s appointment by a 3-1 vote was met with a standing ovation from an audience filled with many of the 10 other applicants vying to replace Jerry Hill, the supervisor elected the prior month to the state Assembly.

District two includes portions of San Mateo, Belmont and Foster City.

Automakers get $17.4B bailout

Citing imminent danger to the national economy, President Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry the week of Dec. 20, 2008, offering $17.4 billion in rescue loans and demanding tough concessions from the deeply troubled carmakers and their workers.

Detroit’s Big Three cheered the action and vowed to rebuild their once-mighty industry, though they acknowledged the road would be anything but smooth as they fight their way back from the brink of bankruptcy.

The autoworkers union complained the deal was too harsh on its members, while Bush’s fellow Republicans in Congress said it was simply bad business to bail out yet another big industry.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Friday edition of the Daily Journal.