The mother of 53 58-year-old Douglas Brian Galvin asked his nephew in court Friday to apologize and explain to his family why he killed his uncle and set the body ablaze.
Kirk Michael Galvin, 25, of La Palma, said nothing at his sentencing hearing.
He'd cut a deal to have a first-degree murder count dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree murder, which earned him 15 years to life in state prison. One of Doug Galvin's sisters asked in her victim impact statement for a harsher sentence, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals said he was barred by law from imposing a stricter punishment.
]
Kirk Michael Galvin Faces 15 Years to Life After Copping to Killing Uncle and Burning His Body
Kirk Galvin murdered Douglas Galvin on July 27, 2011, in the La Palma apartment of Krik;s father, who was out of town. Kirk Galvin then drove the body to Santa Barbara County, dumped it in a remote area, and attempted to destroy the body by setting it on fire before fleeing the scene. Hikers found the charred remains on July 30, 2011.
A follow-up investigation by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and La Palma Police Department resulted in Kirk Galvin's arrest on Aug. 5, 2011. The younger Galvin pleaded guilty on April 14 to one felony count of second degree murder.
He would have faced a much stiffer sentence if he'd been convicted of first-degree murder, and Judge Goethals gave a hint at sentencing on why the court and prosecutors may have been willing to show some leniency, according to Paul Anderson's City News Service report: “It appears mental illness did play a factor in this case.”
That did not appease some family members of Doug Galvin, although others did saw they forgive Kirk Galvin, based on Anderson's reporting and an Orange County District Attorney's office sentencing statement.
Rosemary Galvin told her nephew it was a “vicious murder, Kirk, that you tried to cover up.'' Her brother slipping away with “the fear and confusion he must have felt when this nephew he loved'' was attacking him haunts Rosemary. But she added, “I have forgiven Kirk because I could not live with all that turmoil in my heart and mind. I hope while Kirk is in prison, he will make something of his life in honor of Doug.”
“Kirk, I want you to know I forgive you,” said Maureen Galvin, another aunt. “And I think Doug would forgive you, too, because he loved you so much. … I hope you can get help and I hope you can help others.”
But she added she hopes Kirk Galvin never gets out of custody because he is too dangerous, something echoed by Doug Galvin's sister Judith Galvin Vargas. “I do not want to see him paroled period,” she told the court. “What you did Kirk, was so horrendous, you will never get my forgiveness. You brought shame to yourself and your family.”
The sisters, their mother Lenora Galvin and her youngest son all expressed how much they miss Doug Galvin, a Vietnam veteran known for his smiles and charity work, how deeply hurting the family was when his whereabouts were unknown and how the thoughts of his gruesome death still haunt them.
Judge Goethals mentioned he wished there was something he could do to ease the family's pain. Obviously the same laws that dictated his sentences include nothing about that.
Email: mc****@******ly.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.
who else is from shane dawson
OMG I love Shane Dawson it’s sad I want to know more about why he did this ☹️?
I want answers too because there was no motive for why he did what he did and I hope we get the answers we seek soon.
yay!
It doesn’t really concern you about the why’s. The only people that need to know is his family
I am
Me
Mee
I’m here from Shane. I think Kirk had a mental breakdown and then did what he did. Or maybe drugs or alcohol I know that he smoked weed and drank but I don’t know that’s what I think
I think that he might have pleaded Second degree cause maybe he did not really kill him so he is pleading guilty for someone else because I don’t think one person could have takes the body on there own out of the hose and into the car but or someone could have blackmailed him to kill his uncle or the uncle could have been doing bad stuff to him.
This story is sad for friends and family because they go on the internet and see the case is everywhere!! But either way no family member should be killed. Nobody should have to go through that. I looked this story up after watching Shane Dawson’s video. He was a friend to Kirk,but now life in prison strikes.
This is crazy but I think tha his uncle was doing horrible things to Kirk behind everybody’s back so one day he decided to strike and murder him and set him on fire
Was nobody questioned? No person can take a fully grown male across a courtyard without anyone noticing. I think the case needs to be re-evaluated because the truth is yet to be discovered. I hope the family are ok and get answers.
This is sad I just watched Shane’s video(s) about this
OMGG! I was reading this and I went to Shane Dawson’s Ytc and I got a little more information about this case look here is the link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_EyftpAawg
after seeing Shane ‘s video it still a surprise that he would do that to his uncle but Kirk never liked his uncle . He hated him
There is something so much more to this case. There is NO way Kirk did this on his own. He had help.. or he was helping someone, and just never spoke of who was with him. He couldn’t move the body by himself.
Maybe he didn’t do this alone maybe he doesn’t want them to go to jail too so he kept it a secret but why’d he dump the body in a remote area unless he want someone to find the body and send him to jail what if that’s what Kirk wanted, to die in jail.
I think kirk was a good person but something or someone made him go crazy
I sad that he went to prison for 15 yrs I would of put him for 5 yrs and find the person who made him go crazy and put him for 15 yrs
Kirk you no better
This is freaking me out. I know he had help. Who would just no notice a body being dragged or burned. But the thing is he got caught 8 days after. And Megan( Shane’s friend) saw him a couple days later at a bar or partying. So maybe he wanted to get drunk and forget or maybe he was seeking for something. Wanting something and the only way was to murder something. Obviously people should know better and this is just all not real what I am thinking but I could be possible Shane should visit him in prison. Kirk is getting out of prison in less than 7 years. He’s dangerous tho. What if he was blackmailed or he just hated his uncle enough to kill him. There has to be a motive. What if the uncle told him to kill him. But prob not. My head is spinning just thinking about this. And of course this is at night. Which is scary for me.
If anyone knows anything more about this case I would hopefully want an email jo************@***il.com
i heard he was on drugs…i want answers as well. there no motive for the murder everyone is saying his uncle was an amazing guy. everyone is also saying kirk went crazy and hes a psychopathy. but i dont know i would like answers.
Its disappointing that more work wasnt done to help this man heal. He clearly was abused by this man and not one person in his family either believes him nor forgives him. He probably told a billion times. The uncle shamed that family!! I hope he gets released. I don’t think he’d be a threat!!
I’m not trying to speak ill of the dead, but his uncle actually is described how most family members describe molesters. “He was a family man” “he had a huge heart” but the chilling part is “he loved him like his own sons”. That is stated over and over in those cases. From his friends saying he never spoke about anything personal, to his family not being able to think of one single motive. No one just murders someone randomly. Mental health evals are common in these cases too. I’m not justifying murder, he should have told his family to try and get some type of legal help. But if it was past that statute of limitations, and from what I know he was a very intelligent guy so he probably would have looked that up, that could be a legitimate theory on why he snapped.
I know Kirk from the day he was born. I also knew his Dad and his Uncle Doug. . I always suspected something wasn’t right about Doug. I’m not saying he deserved to be murdered. But think about this. Kirk may have been doing drugs.And that might be what pushed him over the edge. But why kill his uncle? Why not someone or anyone else? I think Dough may have done things to Kirk when he was just a young boy that caused him to hate his uncle. And hate fueled by drugs created the perfect storm.
And I don’t know what to think about Kirk killing Doug, putting him into the trunk of his own (Doug’s) car and driving him all the way up to Santa Barbara, where by the way Kirk was attending the university, dumping his body up off a hiking trail behind the campus and trying to burn the evidence all by himself? I think it it begs the question, did he have help?
In any event, I don’t believe that Kirk is a danger to anyone else. No one ever wants to believe that this kind of thing can ever happen to them. And no one wants to believe that the victim may have been a predator.
So much more I could say. But it’s not my place. I’m just saddened by the fact that this has happened , period.
I wonder what Kirk’s mother has to say about this 🤔
Hey there, You have done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this web site.
I like looking through a post that will make men and women think. Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!
My brother suggested I might like this website. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
Whats up very nice site!! Man .. Excellent .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also? I’m glad to search out numerous helpful information here within the post, we need develop extra techniques on this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .