Ben Lomond resident Michael McClish was sentenced to life in prison last week for the 2006 murder of Joanna “Asha” Veil and her unborn child.
Judge Paul Burdick ruled March 29 that McClish, 42, would serve two sentences consecutively — life in prison without the possibility of parole and 15 years to life in prison — for killing Asha Veil and her unborn daughter.
Veil was found beaten and strangled in a remote location on Love Creek Road in Ben Lomond on Sept. 12, 2006, three days after she did not report to her job at a nearby grocery store.
Assistant District Attorney Jeff Rosell prosecuted the case.
“If this case does not deserve consecutive punishment, then, gosh, what does?” Rosell said to the judge, seeking to ensure McClish would not be released from prison.
McClish’s attorney, Tom Walraff, argued that the sentences should be served concurrently.
Burdick also ruled that the sentences would begin only after the end of a separate jail sentence of 18 years, eight months for a 2007 sexual assault conviction.
Before the sentencing, both McClish and Asha Veil’s husband, Richard Veil, spoke to the court.
Richard Veil said he met his future wife in New York in 2004 when he was traveling on business. After returning to Santa Cruz, he went back to New York and convinced her to move to California. They attended the Burning Man festival together and were married in the Santa Cruz County Building.
Richard Veil said that when he broke his hands and legs in an accident, Veil cared for him while also working.
“She never complained at all,” Veil said. “I don’t think she knew what the word is.”
In early 2006, Asha Veil had a sexual encounter at a party that resulted in the possibility of pregnancy, Richard Veil said. During the same time, he and his wife could have conceived a child together, he said. She moved out of the house, but Richard Veil insisted that it was not a permanent separation.
“We weren’t estranged,” he said. “We were away in body, not in spirit.”
Richard Veil said the couple decided against a DNA test to determine the parentage of her baby, whom he posthumously named Anina.
“I told her I would be by her side,” he said.
In September 2006, when she was seven months pregnant, Asha Veil was found dead in Ben Lomond. Details of the murder were unclear to the public as the investigation progressed.
“I learned how she died by a headline in the Santa Cruz Sentinel,” Richard Veil said.
McClish, given his turn before the court, made a statement professing his innocence.
“I have been kept mostly silent,” McClish said.
He said he and Asha Veil were friends and characterized her as energetic, reliable, delightful, bubbly and friendly.
“I am not ashamed at all,” he said. “I was her friend, nothing less.”
McClish, who was married and had three children at the time, said he never had a sexual relationship with Asha Veil or talked about sex with her.
“Asha was better than that,” he said. “She would not have been one to commit adultery, or interfere with another’s marriage.”
McClish said his sympathies were with Richard Veil and the Veil family.
“I am proud to say she was an inspiration in my life,” McClish told the court. “I will never forget her, and I never want to.”
McClish also addressed some of his shortcomings as a person.
“I was far from perfect, but I was no monster,” McClish said. “Asha knew this and was my friend.”
McClish was critical of the investigation, saying it focused on him unfairly.
“It is said the truth sets you free, and I am free,” he said.
A letter from Asha Veil’s parents, who live in Poland, was read in court, and her mother-in-law, Rita Veil, also made a statement.
Burdick, the judge, made concluding remarks, noting that members of the jury did not hear from women involved in McClish’s earlier rape conviction and that he had every confidence in the verdict. He handed down the sentence and said it took a high degree of cruelty, viciousness and callousness to commit the crimes.
