Life in Prison for woman who set husband on fire

Veola Elvira Pook

Also in court, for the first time in years, a woman has been found guilty of murder. For that crime, today Veola Pook was sentenced to life imprisonment for burning her common-law-husband to death at their home in Rancho Dolores on New Years Eve 2008.  The sentence is effective as of July eighth, when she was convicted. Pook’s children were present during mitigation before Justice Herbert Lord this morning, but her attorney, Hubert Elrington, was the only person that begged the court for leniency on her behalf.  Pook has been on remand since January 2009 when, forty-two year old Orlando Vasquez succumbed to his injuries. The incident stemmed from an argument over a ham that had been cooked for the New Year’s celebration, but it escalated when Pook set Vasquez on fire and stood aside while her son tried to out the flames. Elrington has not yet indicated whether his client will be appealing the conviction, but they have twenty-one days to do so.