An Affair Starts in Vons and Ends in Homicide
(“Sign Here,” Forensic Files)
This week’s recap takes a look at two awful people who killed one nice person.
“Sign Here” tells the story of Sherri Dally’s murder at the hands of her husband and the woman he was having an affair with.
Famous trial. In addition to sharing the standard forbidden-fruit attraction, Diana Haun and Michael Dally had a common interest in macabre things, like wounding people with knives.
Yikes.
Because gory details aren’t my favorite part of murder narratives, for this post I’ll concentrate on the courtroom drama. (One account from the time of the trials said that anyone who wasn’t following the story must live under a rock, but I don’t think it got much coverage beyond the West Coast.)
I also checked into the murderers’ whereabouts today.
But first here’s a recap of the Forensic Files episode along with additional information drawn from internet research:
Diana Haun, 36, was a former model who enjoyed using makeup, wigs, and costumes to change her appearance drastically.
Backgrounds in common. For whatever reason, she ended up as a deli clerk at Vons supermarket in Oxnard, California, near her hometown of Port Hueneme.
Michael, also 36, worked as a manager at the same store. Coincidentally, Diana and Michael both had mothers originally from Japan and fathers who were U.S. servicemen.
The two probably had a lot of stories to share and, somewhere amid dispensing quarter pounds of thick-sliced provolone and spreading cream cheese on everything bagels, they worked up a passion for each other.
They carried on a conspicuous affair despite that Michael was married with two small sons, Devon, 8, and Max, 6.
He and his wife, born Sherri Renee Guess, 35, had met in high school.
Sherri’s mother, Karlyne Guess, who appeared on both Forensic Files and a Fatal Vows episode about the case, described Sherri as a typical California girl active in 4-H, Brownies, and Pioneer Girls.
Mr. Popular. School friends remembered Michael — whose nickname was Hawaiian Mike although he didn’t come from Hawaii — as charming. He had thick black hair and a smooth, tan complexion.
Sherri was crazy about the guy.
He won over her family, too. The two married in 1982.
But by the 1990s, the bloom was off the rose for Michael. “The marriage was marked by her fidelity and Michael Dally’s infidelity,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
In addition to having affairs, Michael patronized prostitutes and used cocaine.
Thankless spouse. It’s painful to read about the kind, generous things Sherri did in hopes of saving her marriage to this loser — like the time she washed and waxed Michael’s car while he was at Diana Haun’s house.
Although news outlets often described Sherri as a homemaker, she also operated a day care business with her friend Debbie English.
Despite Sherri’s virtue and devotion, by 1996, Michael wanted out of the marriage.
Cruel blueprint. He and Diana came up with a plan. She would disguise herself as a law officer and fool Sherri into thinking she was under arrest so she’d allow Diana to handcuff her and put her in a rental vehicle.
It worked.
The kidnapping happened in a Target parking lot in Ventura on May 6, 1996.
After the abduction, Diana beat and stabbed Sherri to death, possibly even decapitating her. Then, Michael reported his wife missing and presented himself as a distraught husband to the media.
That worked, too, for a while.
But then he began doing things like trying to get rid of Sherri’s possessions while she was still missing.
Disguise-shopping. And while Michael was supposed to be anxiously awaiting word about Sherri, police found him holed up in Diana’s apartment. He was shirtless and she had lingerie on.
Investigators turned their attention toward the two, and evidence began streaming in.
Witnesses remembered that Diana bought a blond wig, fake police badge, and handcuffs prior to the murder, and she was seen near the ravine where searchers discovered Sherri’s remains on June 1, 1996.
Sherri’s blood was found in the teal vehicle Diana rented. A local dry cleaner told investigators about receiving an anonymous phone call around the time of the murder from someone asking how to remove blood from a car seat.
“It’s all him.” And colleagues from Vons had plenty of stories to dish up about the adulterer and his girlfriend.
Diana Haun’s trial took place first.
Lawyers for the skinny, startled-looking defendant, who faced capital punishment, said that Michael took advantage of her love and tricked her into killing Sherri.
Witness after witness. But the forensic evidence pretty much added up to a flashing arrow of guilt pointing at Diana.
About 30 Ventura law officers had worked on the investigation, and 125 witnesses testified.
In addition to the evidence in the car, the police found Diana in possession of a pen with green ink, the same color she used to sign the car rental contract.
The jury also learned that, while Diana was a genius of disguise, she was a dim bulb as a hitwoman.
She used a check to pay for her wig and other do-it-yourself murder items. And she wrote it in green ink.
On September 26, 1997, a jury found Diana Haun guilty of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder.
LA Times writer Mack Reed described the jubilation after the verdict:
“The detectives laughed and hugged and laughed some more. The victim’s mother cried, then smiled. [Diana Haun’s] family sat still in the courtroom, ashen-faced.”
Spectators watching a feed of the decision outside the courthouse broke into cheers, the LA Times reported.
Diana Haun got life without parole.
Ms. Moneybags. Tried separately, Michael faced the death penalty, even though no forensic evidence tied him directly to the crime scene. Prosecutors brought him up on special charges of lying in wait and committing the crime for financial gain.
Michael’s defense lawyer Robert Schwartz denied that Michael wanted to avoid a costly divorce and benefit from Sherri’s $50,000 life insurance policy. He already had a wealthy girlfriend, Schwartz contended.
Diana Haun had an annuity worth $1 million thanks to a settlement over an injury sustained in high school. A basketball backboard fell onto her head and put her in a coma for three months. She was receiving $1,077 a month and it was to continue until she turned 65.
“It was all her.” Schwartz blamed Haun for the killing. “This plan was designed, conceived, and carried out by this psycho, crazed whacked-out witch, Diana Haun,” he said.
(She definitely had an interest in witchcraft, but it’s worrisome to see it used as evidence of blood lust — witchcraft is part of the recognized religion of Wicca, which forbids harming others.)
The defense contended that Sherri and Michael Dally were in the process of reconciling and Haun went rogue to stop it.
But witnesses said Michael had spoken of wanting to get out of the marriage.
Father interferes. Debbie English testified that Michael inadvertently made a remark indicating he had prior knowledge of where the body was buried.
She also told the court that Michael’s father, Lawrence Dally, had tried to discourage her from talking to investigators about Michael.
Sallie Lowe, one of Michael’s ex-girlfriends, had even more damning information to share. She said Michael had choked her on two occasions and tried to coerce her into giving him money.
“He just wanted [Sherri] to disappear,” Lowe told the court. “There were times he talked about stabbing her with a knife, but not only stabbing her — twisting the knife to cause pain.”
Tainted jury? Lawrence Dally’s testimony that Michael was actually with him when prosecutors contended he was planning the crime with Diana Haun didn’t make much of a dent in the prosecution’s case.
Michael’s trial ended with a murder conviction in April 1998.
The defense pressed for a different jury to determine Michael’s sentence — his trial verdict elicited a lot of cheering from spectators, just as Diana’s had, and there was concern it tainted the jury.
But the same jury was used during the penalty phase two months later.
Sherri’s mother, Karlyne Guess, read a statement in court about how the graphic visions of the murder haunted her.
Throw away the key. There was talk in the defense camp of putting the Dallys’ older son on the stand to dissuade the judge from giving the death penalty. To their credit, they decided against it.
A judge gave Michael Dally life without parole and ordered him to pay the Guess family $15,000.
As far as post-sentencing activity, Diana made some effort early on.
Not loving prison. In October of 2000, she appealed on the grounds that the court had been allowed to hear prejudicial evidence, like that fact that she had a prior affair with another married man and practiced witchcraft.
That train went to Nowhereville, and Haun is still serving her time in Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.
Michael made news as recently as September 2018, when he requested clemency from the state of California. The governor reportedly assigned an investigator to look into the matter, according to the VC Star.
In the meantime, his status is LWOP at California State Prison in Lancaster.
Defense debts. As for Sherri Dally’s sons, Max and Devon, they lived with their paternal grandparents after the murder.
In March of 1998, Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Lane awarded the kids $6.4 million in a judgment against Diana Haun, although it’s unclear whether they saw any of the money. Diana already owed $202,000 to her defense attorneys, according to the LA Times.
As an adult, Devon Dally appeared briefly on the ID Network’s The Murder of Sherri Dally, and said that he believes his father is innocent. Devon also said that Sherri was a great mother and he remembers life with his parents as happy.
Max Dally hasn’t done any media that could be located online. He appears to have a career in the security industry.
You can watch an an episode of the New Detectives that includes a segment on the Sherri Dally case for free on YouTube, but it costs $1.99 to view Fatal Vows: A Lonely Place. (Neither show is as good as Forensic Files, but is anything?)
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube or Amazon Prime.
