SANTA ANA – Shot and paralyzed from the chest down while on duty three decades ago, Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ira G. Essoe died earlier this year from what the coroner determined were “delayed complications” from the gunshot wounds.

Now, in a rare example of a delayed homicide prosecution, two men who already have served prison time for attempting to kill Essoe during a car theft in Orange on Nov. 6, 1980, have been arrested and charged with his murder.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office filed charges Thursday against Robert Duston Strong, 55, of Riverside, and David Michael Knick, 54, of Yucca Valley.

If convicted, Strong and Knick each face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. They remain held at Orange County Jail on $1 million bail each. Their planned arraignment Friday was carried over until Dec. 10.

Strong and Knick were in their mid-20s and another accomplice, David Vogel, was in his mid-30s when the shooting occurred outside a mall in Orange.

The trio was in the process of stealing a black Mustang they needed as a getaway vehicle for a planned supermarket heist when Essoe, then 40, and a partner, Greg Brown, both wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked police car, happened upon them.

At the time of the shooting, Strong, Knick and Vogel were parolees with long rap sheets from the Inland Empire.

Brown walked toward the open door of the passenger side of the Mustang as Essoe approached on the driver’s side. As the deputies approached, Strong pointed a gun at Brown and demanded that he put his firearm on the ground.

Immediately after Brown complied, shots were fired. Essoe got hit under his left arm, the bullet exiting the top of his chest.

A second bullet – another .45-caliber slug — shattered his ribs, passed through his left lung, blasted two of his vertebrae, and severed his spinal cord, paralyzing him instantly.

Vogel fled the scene.

Knick and Strong took both of the deputies’ guns and stole their patrol car. They were arrested about an hour later by California Highway Patrol officers following a high-speed chase in which the suspects fired shots at officers.

The Orange Police Department investigated the case, and prosecutors filed attempted murder charges against Knick and Strong. At the time of the crime, there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Vogel. Vogel now is 63 and lives in Riverside.

Strong was convicted by a jury on July 20, 1981, of one felony count each of attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, and unlawful taking of a vehicle, and two felony counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and auto burglary.

He was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison. He was released in January 1991 after serving about 10 years.

Knick was convicted by a jury on Aug. 20, 1981, of one felony count each of attempted murder, unlawful taking of a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon, and two felony counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and auto burglary.

He was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in state prison. He was released in June 1990 after serving about nine years.

Essoe suffered severe medical complications over the years that forced the amputation of both of his legs. He died at age 69 on Feb. 4 of sepsis, in which the blood stream becomes overwhelmed by bacteria.

Relatives said Essoe never complained about his paralysis and that he always looked back on his career in law enforcement with pride. His wife, Ramona, served as his caretaker.

Essoe’s three children all went into law enforcement, including Ira Essoe III, a sergeant with the sheriff department’s contract city of San Juan Capistrano.

Essoe was the first California peace officer to die in the line of duty in 2010, and the ninth Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy to die in the line of duty, according to records dating back to 1912.

Former Sheriff Brad Gates and Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens were among the hundreds of law enforcement officials who packed Essoe’s memorial service at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest in April.

Hutchens, in a statement Friday, praised investigators and prosecutors for the filing of the murder charges.

“Building a case on a shooting that occurred (three decades) ago is no small achievement,” she said. “It required hard work and professional dedication.

“The criminal justice system will not let the passage of time protect the men who brutally shot and killed Sgt. Ira Essoe. (He) was a true hero, and his death was a loss not only to his family and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, but to the public.

“He dedicated his life to protecting the public, and now we seek justice for his family.”

Essoe’s name will be enshrined next year on a California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation memorial in Sacramento, and he will be similarly honored in Orange County and likely in Washington D.C.

After Essoe’s death, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange PD began investigating Knick and Strong for murder. Under the law, there is no statute of limitations on murder if it can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a criminal act resulted in a death.

Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons, who will prosecute the case, said filing murder charges as a result of injuries suffered decades earlier is rare. He said there have been similar cases in Pennsylvania and Florida.

He said Knick and Strong are believed to have stayed out of trouble with the law since their release from prison two decades ago.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or ghardesty@ocregister.com