The Diana Lovejoy case is a 2016 Carlsbad, California murder-for-hire plot in which Lovejoy conspired with her firearms instructor and lover, Weldon McDavid Jr., to ambush and shoot her estranged husband, Greg Mulvihill, during a bitter divorce. Mulvihill survived. In 2017, a San Diego County jury convicted both Lovejoy and McDavid of conspiracy to commit murder and premeditated attempted murder. Lovejoy was sentenced to 26 years to life; McDavid received 50 years to life. Her later attempt to win resentencing under California’s reformed murder law was rejected.
The Divorce That Set the Plot in Motion
Lovejoy and Mulvihill’s marriage collapsed into what San Diego County prosecutors described as one of the more toxic divorces they had handled. During the proceedings, Lovejoy accused Mulvihill of molesting their young son and sexually abusing her, and she obtained a temporary restraining order. Mulvihill denied the allegations. The court ordered the couple to share custody.
Money was the other pressure point. As part of the divorce settlement, a court ordered Lovejoy to pay Mulvihill $120,000, with payment due just weeks after the shooting eventually took place. Prosecutors argued that the looming payment, combined with Lovejoy’s refusal to share custody of their son, drove her decision to have Mulvihill killed rather than pay him and co-parent with him.
The Affair With Her Firearms Instructor
While her divorce was underway, Lovejoy took up firearms training and grew close to her instructor, Weldon McDavid Jr., a former Marine Corps firearms instructor. The two began a romantic affair. When Lovejoy confided her frustrations about custody and money, McDavid offered to help her regain full custody of her son. Prosecutors later argued the “help” was an agreement to kill Mulvihill for $2,000.
The Ambush on Avenida Soledad
On the night of September 1, 2016, Mulvihill received a phone call from a man claiming to be a private investigator with incriminating documents about Lovejoy. The caller directed him to a remote dirt trail off Avenida Soledad to pick them up. Suspicious, Mulvihill brought a neighbor along.
When they arrived, a figure in camouflage was lying prone in the brush with a rifle. McDavid fired. The bullet struck Mulvihill in the side. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery. The wound was serious but not fatal. Prosecutors later argued the attack had been deliberately timed to a new moon for maximum darkness.
Lovejoy had driven McDavid to the location before leaving the area. She had also purchased the untraceable prepaid phone McDavid used to lure Mulvihill to the trail.
How Investigators Tied Both Defendants to the Crime
The case came together through a mix of digital records and physical evidence. When investigators questioned Lovejoy, she admitted buying the “burner” phone used to call Mulvihill that night, and she admitted her affair with McDavid. Cell tower records placed both defendants near the crime scene at the time of the shooting. Investigators recovered the rifle used in the attack from a property associated with McDavid. DNA collected from the bushes where the shooter had been lying in wait was traced back to him. Financial records confirmed Lovejoy had paid him.
The Trial, Verdict, and Sentences
Lovejoy and McDavid were tried together on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and premeditated attempted murder. McDavid’s defense argued that as a trained former Marine, he could easily have killed Mulvihill if he had wanted to, and that Mulvihill’s survival showed McDavid meant only to frighten him. At sentencing, McDavid said, “If I intended to kill Mr. Mulvihill, he would have been dead.” Prosecutors countered that he was a hired shooter who simply missed.
Lovejoy did not testify. In November 2017, the jury found both defendants guilty on all counts. Lovejoy collapsed in the courtroom when the verdict was read.1Justia Case Law. People v. Lovejoy 2024 California Courts of Appeal Decisions
On January 31, 2018, a San Diego County judge sentenced Lovejoy to 26 years to life in prison. McDavid received 50 years to life. Lovejoy maintained her innocence at sentencing, telling the court, “I still have faith that the truth will come out. I’m not capable of doing these things.” Mulvihill, who had been awarded custody of the couple’s son after the conviction, attended the sentencing but did not speak.
Appeals and the SB 1437 Resentencing Denial
Both defendants appealed. A California appellate court affirmed Lovejoy’s convictions. McDavid’s convictions were also affirmed, though the court vacated his sentence and returned the case for resentencing.2FindLaw. People v. Lovejoy (2024)
While her appeal was pending, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1437, effective January 1, 2019. The law narrowed murder liability by eliminating the “natural and probable consequences” doctrine as a basis for a murder conviction and requiring proof that each defendant either intended to kill or was a major participant who acted with reckless indifference to human life. It also created a petition process, now codified as Penal Code section 1172.6, allowing people previously convicted under the old theories to seek resentencing. Lovejoy filed such a petition.
The appellate court denied it. The jury had convicted Lovejoy of conspiracy to commit murder, which under California’s jury instructions required jurors to find that she personally “intended to agree and did agree with McDavid to intentionally and unlawfully kill” Mulvihill. If jurors had believed she only agreed to frighten him, they would have convicted her of the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit assault with a firearm. Because the jury had already found she personally intended to kill, the natural and probable consequences doctrine played no role in her conviction, and SB 1437 offered her nothing.1Justia Case Law. People v. Lovejoy 2024 California Courts of Appeal Decisions2FindLaw. People v. Lovejoy (2024)