Hairdresser Found Guilty in Killing of Ex-Boss

A Superior Court jury took less than two hours Tuesday to find a 33-year-old Westminster hairdresser guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his former boss when she could not find a tax form he needed.

Kevin L. Kristiansen, photographed smiling at a friend’s wedding three hours after the killing of 51-year-old Annette Robertson last July 11, claims that he was high on cocaine at the time. His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Dennis P. O’Connell, argued to jurors that it was a killing done on impulse and sought a verdict of second-degree murder.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard M. Toohey expressed surprise at the quick verdict but said, “The case was so overwhelming there really was no other verdict the jurors could have come back with.”

Kristiansen, arrested four days after the murder when a bloody fingerprint found inside the victim’s house was identified as his, admitted to police that he had killed the woman, who had employed him at her hair salon the year before.

Kristiansen said he needed a form from her to complete his income taxes. The woman’s husband later told police that she had the form Kristiansen needed but that it was in storage and not at the house.

Kristiansen told police that when she denied him the form, he became angry.

“I was not in my right mind. I was . . . free-basing cocaine,” he told police, according to court records.

Kristiansen then grabbed a decanter and struck her on the head, he told police. Her screaming brought neighbors to the door, but Kristiansen slammed the door on them and locked it.

Kristiansen then went to the kitchen and got a knife, he told police.

“Every step he took toward that kitchen door was a step toward first-degree murder,” Toohey said outside the courtroom.

The police asked Kristiansen why he stabbed her with the knife.

“I just wanted her to stop screaming,” he answered, crying. “Oh, God,” he added.

Stabbed 20 Times

Kristiansen stabbed the woman 20 times, according to medical evidence presented at the trial. But the actual cause of death was asphyxiation. A footprint showed that Kristiansen had shoved his foot against her neck while she was down to try to stop her screams.

Toohey argued to jurors that Kristiansen’s intentions were clear: “He wanted to stop her screams; he wanted to make a safe escape.”

Kristiansen told police that he did not know why he grabbed the knife. But Toohey argued to jurors that it was to make sure Robertson was dead. “He didn’t grab a napkin-holder; he grabbed a knife,” Toohey said.

After the killing, Kristiansen took the woman’s Mercedes, abandoned it near his own car that was parked a block away, then went on to a friend’s wedding.

“You look at the wedding pictures, you’d have no idea here was a man who had just committed a brutal murder,” Toohey said outside the courtroom.

Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno set sentencing for June 17. Kristiansen faces an automatic sentence of 26 years to life in prison--including a year added for use of a knife.