A 75-year-old man who allegedly waited in an exam room for a doctor to arrive at a Newport Beach medical office before shooting him was charged Wednesday with murder.
Stanwood Elkus, of Lake Elsinore, was charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.
Elkus waited in an exam room Monday afternoon at the medical building on Superior Avenue for Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, a Hoag Hospital staff member since 1993, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. An employee at the building said the gunman had a scheduled appointment with the slain doctor, who served as chair of the Urology Department from October 1998 to September 2002.
When Gilbert arrived at the hospital, Elkus shot the doctor "multiple times," prosecutors said.
Colleagues heard gunfire on the second floor of the hospital and attempted to help Gilbert. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Elkus handed the weapon to a staff member before surrendering to officers, according to the district attorney.
Elkus' arraignment, scheduled for Wednesday in Santa Ana, was continued until March 1. He was ordered held without bail.
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