Life sentence for Safari Inn killer

Marc Valcarenghi, the man found guilty of killing Audra Houston last summer at the Safari Inn in Chico, has been sentenced to life in prison, with no parole possible for 25 years.

Houston, a 34-year-old mother, had been homeless at the time of her death. She’d been staying at the motel on The Esplanade in exchange for cleaning. The motel manager, along with Houston’s boyfriend, found her body underneath the mattress in her room last July 12, according to court documents. She’d been strangled to death, her head wrapped in plastic.

During trial, Valcarenghi said he and Houston had had kinky sex the night of July 11; he attributed her death to autoerotic asphyxiation. The fact that he took no responsibility added to his sentence, according to his probation report.