The State - News from July 27, 1986

An 18-year-old Santa Barbara preparatory school student was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for killing a transient. David Kenneth Kurtzman was convicted of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Michael Stephenson, 29, who was killed in a park gazebo. Kurtzman, a former Eagle Scout, testified that he mistook Stephenson for a gang member who had taunted him. But Santa Barbara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Calvert said Kurtzman showed no remorse for the murder. Kurtzman was acquitted of first-degree murder charges. James Trammel, 18, allegedly assisted Kurtzman in the murder. A mistrial was declared in Trammel’s first trial. Retrial was set for November.