Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Fire Chief Gets 15 to Life for Killing Girlfriend

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) - A former Cal Fire battalion chief has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2014.

Orville Fleming, 57, was convicted of second degree murder last month for killing his girlfriend Sarah Douglas in their Elk Grove-area home.

Fleming stabbed the 26-year-old Douglas 14 times, and then hid for 16 days before authorities finally nabbed him.

The former battalion chief and instructor for the California Department of Forestry's firefighting division - known as Cal Fire - received the maximum sentence, which includes one additional year for using a knife to commit the murder.

He will be 72 years old before he is eligible for parole.

Fleming also faces a wrongful death civil suit brought last week by Douglas' son from a previous relationship.

Douglas' murder also unraveled a scandal at the Ione academy where Fleming worked.

Fleming's estranged wife alerted officials to a possible sex tape filmed at the academy and the California Highway Patrol investigated. Although the CHP did not find a sex tape, it found plenty of wrongdoing.

Of the 16 employees investigated, two state firefighters were fired, one resigned and 13 were suspended or demoted for acts including solicitation of prostitutes, drinking on the job, misuse of state property and dishonesty.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...