Judge Cites ‘Hatred of Women’ : Ex-Banker Gets 15 Years in Prostitute’s Murder

A former banker convicted of second-degree murder for drowning a prostitute from Huntington Beach during a sexual bondage fantasy in a bathtub was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum term of 15 years to life in prison and fined $10,000.

In sentencing Leslie Arthur Byrd, 40, Marin County Superior Court Judge Beverly B. Savitt said Byrd had “a deep-seated hatred of women” that made him “a danger to society.”

The judge also said she believed that the slaying was premeditated, even though she agreed with the jury that the prosecution had been unable to prove first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

Byrd was convicted April 28 in the June 16, 1985, death of Cynthia Engstrom, 19, a prostitute to whom he had offered $500 for the sex and bondage session in his Marin County home.

Father Reads Statement

At Tuesday’s sentencing, Engstrom’s father, Bill Engstrom of Huntington Beach, was allowed to read a statement in which he said Byrd “killed someone he could control and enjoy for his own personal pleasure” to “live out his violent and homicidal fantasies.”

Jerrold M. Ladar, Byrd’s attorney, sought probation for his client, saying that the crime was “rooted deeply in psychological malfunction of a serious nature.” After the sentencing, he said he planned to file an appeal.

At the time of his arrest, Byrd was a senior vice president of WestAmerica Bank in San Rafael and lived in Bahia, a bayside suburb of Novato.

According to trial testimony, Byrd often paid prostitutes large sums of money for sexual acts and frequently brought them to his home when his wife and daughters were out of town.

Drove Her to His Home

On June 16, he hired Engstrom and drove her to his home. According to testimony, she agreed to allow Byrd to bind and gag her in a bathtub full of water.

After she died, Byrd put Engstrom’s nude body in his car and drove to western Marin County, where he dumped the body at the edge of a ranch road. Her clothes and belongings were tossed from a bridge near Point Reyes Station.

A note found in the clothing led police to a San Francisco motel, where other prostitutes identified Byrd as Engstrom’s last customer.

When first questioned, Byrd said that he found Engstrom dead in his bathtub after he went downstairs to feed the family cats. Later, he said he pushed her face underwater because she started screaming and he was afraid neighbors would call the police.