Vara sentenced to life for Fairmont Park murder

WEST JORDAN — A man charged in two of the most heinous crimes some law enforcers and court officials had ever seen in Salt Lake County, struck plea bargains Friday that spared him a possible death penalty.

Paul David Vara, 31, plead guilty Friday to murdering 45-year-old Kristine Marie Gabel in a Fairmont Park bathroom on Dec. 18. He also plead guilty to raping a woman in Pioneer Park on Dec. 14. In exchange for his guilty pleas, and his immediate sentencing, he was spared a sure death penalty and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Third District Judge Mark Kouris told Vara that meant he would likely spend at least the next 50 years in a small cement cell.

"This person will never see the light of day again," Kouris said during sentencing. "It's still not enough punishment for what you've done."

The brutal nature of Gabel's death was one of the worst that many law enforcers had ever seen. Charging documents outlined extremely graphic and disturbing details of how the 6-foot-1, 260-pound Vara "pulled her internal organs out of her body." Likewise, the victim in the rape case also suffered extensive injuries that required surgery and have left permanent damage.

"I don't know how a human being can do what you actually did. I don't think animals act that way," Kouris said. "To take out her organs for your own sexual pleasure, I don't think the human mind can even comprehend."

Emotions ran high during the one-hour hearing as friends and family members of both victims filled the courtroom. Although members of Gabel's family said they mutually agreed to the plea bargain for the sake of her daughters and to be able to avoid years of appeals and continuous court hearings, many were still infuriated at the way she died.

"You're a (expletive) monster," Gabel's brother Mark Allred told Vara before sentencing. "He shows no remorse, no compassion. He's beyond redemption. What plea bargain did you give my sister? Why don't you ask to recant your plea and ask for the death sentence. Or do the world a favor and kill yourself."

Other family members who spoke also called Vara a "monster." Their emotions ranged from anger to guilt for not being there for Kristine. Although she had battled depression and alcoholism during her life, family members said when they talked to her about a month before she was murdered, she sounded like she was turning her life around.

Family members remembered Kristine's giving nature, her radiant smile, her creative nature and her excellent cooking.

"I have no remorse in saying Paul Vara should never see the light again," Kelly Schutz, Gabel's stepdaughter told the court. "My world became a scary place in a split second because of him."

"I can't believe that her life was stolen in that way," one of Gabel's daughters said. "You're not deserving of this life anymore, not even a life in prison. You don't deserve that right anymore."

"He'll get everything that's coming to him in the after life as well," Chad Allred, Gabel's brother, told the court.

Gabel's sister, Sherri Allred Rice, called Vara "evil."

"I am devastated beyond comprehension," she told the judge while wiping back tears. "She did not deserve to be savagely attacked and left to die on the floor of a park bathroom. I am so haunted by the incredibly heinous way her life was taken. … His life was mercifully spared, which is much more than he deserves."

During the outpouring of emotion, Christian Schutz, Gabel's ex-husband, who is not a proponent of the death penalty and admitted he struggled with his personal beliefs because of this case, shocked many in the courtroom by telling Vara that he forgives him.

"For eight months, my family has not been able to say this man's name," he said.

Schutz struggled as he told the judge how their 7-year-old daughter had to celebrate Christmas without her mother. He said Vara's crime was of "unthinkable cruelty and violence." But ultimately, he said he offered Vara mercy, "which is more than he gave Kristine."

He said Vara won't go to hell, because, "I believe he is already there and he has been there for a very long time already."

When asked after the hearing about forgiving Vara, Schutz said it didn't come easy.

"I believe it's what separates us from men like him," he said. "I am a man of faith. I believe it was the right thing to do."

Also in the courtroom was the victim in the Pioneer Park rape, who asked only to be referred to by her initials, T.S.

"He took a lot away from me that I can never get back," she told the judge before sentencing. "I'm scared all the time. It doesn't seem fair he sits behind bars. I'm just scared all the time. I shiver and I cry."

In addition to psychological damage, T.S. said she has not, and may never, completely heal from her brutal attack. She is forced to wear diapers because of the attack.

Before he was sentenced, Vara addressed the court. As he began to apologize, the judge told him to turn around and speak directly to the victims' families.

With tears in his eyes, Vara said, "I apologize for all the grief that I caused. If God could grant wishes, I would go back in time and un-do everything."

But upon saying that, it sparked an angry reaction as a member of Gabel's family yelled "(explitive) you!" Outside the courtroom, although some said they were surprised that Vara showed emotion, most of Gabel's family and T.S. felt Vara's apology was not sincere.

Vara, who is originally from Texas, did not have any friends or family members in the courtroom.

Vara was sentenced to life without parole for the aggravated murder and 15 years to life for the object rape of Gabel. In exchange, a forcible sex abuse charge was dropped in addition to one of the three aggravating factors in the murder. In the case of T.S., he was sentenced to 15 years to life for object rape and had another charge of object rape dropped.

Kouris ordered all sentences run consecutively.

Email:preavy@ksl.com

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