Man Sentenced to Death for Masterminding Murders of Cal Aero Founder & Wife

Jason Sandefur

A man who wanted to take over Cal Aero Supply Co. was sentenced to death for masterminding the murder of the founder and his wife. Theodore Shove, 55, had been convicted in 2007 of first-degree murder in the slayings of Hubert “Bert” Souther, 81, and his wife, Elizabeth, 79.
Souther, who founded the Southern California-based machinery & tooling supply company in 1968, and his wife of more than 50 years were beaten to death by a tire iron in September 2001 in their La Habra Heights home.
A second man, Lewis Hardin, 35, was convicted of first-degree murder. The jury recommended a life prison term without the possibility of parole. Hardin will be sentenced later this spring.
Jurors also found true special circumstance allegations that Shove hired Hardin to kill the Southers in order to take over Cal Aero.
Shove had been convicted in 1989 of stealing a rental car and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 2000.
In 1989 the prosecutor told the Arizona court that Shove “doesn”t care who he does anything to, and once he does it, he can completely rationalize what he”s done and then go on to the next thing without missing a heartbeat.”
Los Angeles prosecutors told jurors that Shove claimed ties to the Italian, Russian or Mexican mafias. Shove had frequently used an alias of “Tony Bonanno.” The Bonannos lived across the street from Shove in Tucson as a youth. Joe Bonanno had retired in the 1960s as head of one of New York”s Mafia families. \ �2008 FastenerNews.com