Man found guilty in 1998 slaying of German tourist in Santa Monica
Paul Edmond Carpenter
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A man extradited from Jamaica more than a decade after the slaying of a German tourist during a botched robbery in Santa Monica was convicted today of murder and attempted robbery charges.
Jurors deliberated a day and a half before finding Paul Edmond Carpenter guilty of the first-degree murder of 50-year-old Horst Fietze. The jury also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder during the course of a robbery, and convicted him of three counts of attempted second-degree robbery, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace of the Major Crimes Division.
Carpenter, 34, faces a potential sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced by Judge Katherine Mader on Nov. 30.
Carpenter, a United States citizen, was arrested in Jamaica, where he had been living and working for several years under false identification. He was returned to Los Angeles in 2009 to stand trial.
The victim had been visiting California with a group of friends when Carpenter, his girlfriend and two others attempted to rob the group behind the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Oct. 12, 1998.
Fietze, a building supervisor from Lobau, Germany, was fatally shot during the robbery.
Co-defendants Roshana Latiesha Roberts, 31, Lamont Dion Santos, 33, and Tyrina Lakeisha Griffin, 30, were convicted in 2001 for their roles in the crime, according to Grace.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Compton was ranked as the nation's eighth most dangerous city, but three in Orange County—Mission Viejo, Lake Forest and Irvine—ranked in the top 10 safest cities, according to a report released today.
The latest edition of City Crime Rankings is one of five annual reference works published by CQ Press that analyze and rank states and cities in various categories.
COMPTON, Calif. — A teenage girl was convicted today of two counts of first-degree murder for her role in the killings of her mother and stepfather in the family’s Compton mobile home.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours before reaching a verdict in the trial of Cynthia Alvarez, 16.
COMPTON, Calif. — A 16-year-old girl charged with murdering her mother and stepfather tearfully told a Compton jury today that she did not take part in the killings and blamed her boyfriend for them.
Cynthia Alvarez testified that she was outside her family’s Compton mobile home when she heard her mother shout her name and later heard her boyfriend, Giovanni Gallardo, call for her, the Los Angeles Times reported.
When she went back inside the home, she found her mother dead, she testified, according to The Times.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A grand jury indictment unsealed today charges a man with murdering two women and one man and injuring two other people during a shooting spree last October at a business and a home in Downey.
Jade Douglas Harris, 30, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to 10 felony counts, including three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping for carjacking and one count of being a felon with a firearm.
TORRANCE, Calif. — The Torrance Police Department announced today that it has three suspects in custody who are believed to have been involved in credit card fraud victimizing 37 people from San Diego to Simi Valley.
The investigation began on Sept. 17, after a Torrance resident living in the 17500 block of Emanita Avenue was fraudulently billed for a delivery to a FedEx office at 21023 Hawthorne Boulevard.
Surveillance video allegedly showed a suspect picking up a package.
