Restroom Killer Gets Death

A remorseless drifter was sentenced to death Thursday for killing a 9-year-old Oroville boy in a beachfront restroom in Oceanside, Calif.

During his penalty hearing last month, 21-year-old Brandon Wilson from Wisconsin told jurors he had no remorse for killing Matthew Cecchi and he would "do it again in a second if I had the chance."

San Diego County Superior Court Judge John Einhorn called the third grader's November 1998 murder an "abominable" act.

Wilson will be transferred to death row at San Quentin within 10 days. An appeal is automatic.

Matthew had traveled to Southern California with his mother and younger brother from their home in Oroville, north of Sacramento, to attend a family reunion. His aunt had escorted him to the restroom and was waiting outside for him when he was killed.

Wilson, who left his hometown of St. Croix Falls, Wis., two years ago to travel the West, admitted that he crept up behind Matthew while the boy stood at a urinal, slashed his throat and stabbed him five times in the back.

Wilson claimed to be innocent by reason of insanity. But the jury rejected that argument and recommended that the judge impose death.