Faces Death Penalty : Suspect Convicted of Hansen Dam Slaying

A man who confessed that he shot a woman at Hansen Dam, then fired twice more into her head because “I didn’t want her saying anything” was convicted Monday of first-degree murder and could face the death penalty.

A San Fernando Superior Court jury found Steven Harold Erikson, 32, guilty of the kidnap, rape and murder of Victoria Winchester, 26, near Hansen Dam on the morning of Feb. 5, 1984.

The jury also found that Erikson carried out the murder under “special circumstances” because the killing took place during a rape and kidnaping and because he killed to prevent Winchester from becoming a witness against him.

A conviction on at least one of the special circumstances was necessary for prosecutors to seek a death sentence during the penalty phase of the trial, which begins March 30.

Concede Guilt

Erikson’s attorneys, Gerald L. Chaleff and Gigi Gordon, conceded in court that their client was guilty of the lesser crime of second-degree murder but argued that he lacked the necessary deliberation to be convicted of first-degree murder.

Chaleff said the crime was a social tragedy caused by a night of cocaine and alcohol abuse. The gun discharged accidentally the first time, and Erikson panicked and fired the second and third shots, Chaleff said.

The events leading to Winchester’s death began Feb. 4, when she and Erikson met at the home of a mutual friend, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael E. Knight said at the trial. After going to a Santa Monica nightclub that evening, the couple returned to Erikson’s mother’s North Hollywood apartment early Feb. 5, Knight said.

Escape Thwarted

Winchester asked to be taken home to Venice, but Erikson refused and raped her, Knight said. At one point, Winchester tried to escape the apartment through the bathroom window but was threatened and beaten, the prosecutor said.

Afterward, Erikson drove Winchester in a pickup truck to Hansen Dam, “where he executed her,” Knight said.

In a tape-recorded confession to police, Erikson said that, as he drove, Winchester threatened go to the police. As they got out of the truck near a baseball field, she tried to escape, he said.

“I told her I’d shoot her, and I cocked the gun and when I let go, it went off,” Erikson said. “I knew I’d hit her, hurt her, so I didn’t want her saying anything, I remember thinking at that time, so I just shot her some more.”

Found by Motorists

Her body was discovered at dawn by passing motorists near a field at Dronfield Avenue and Osborne Street.

Erikson, who was living in Sherman Oaks at the time, was arrested a week after the killing when his family turned him in to police, Knight said.

According to court records, Erikson has a prison record for a string of felony convictions, including attempted kidnaping, grand theft, burglary, forgery of a prescription and receiving stolen property.