Body Was Dumped Into Hot Tub : Man Convicted of Studio City Strangling

A 29-year-old Hollywood man was convicted Tuesday of strangling a Studio City businesswoman and dumping her body in her back-yard hot tub after she caught him burglarizing her home.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury found Stephen Vulpis guilty of first-degree murder in the course of a burglary and robbery in the May 7, 1986, killing of Heidi Kaplan Scarbrough, 34.

The jury also found Vulpis guilty of one count of kidnaping and nine counts of burglary, robbery and attempted robbery. Those charges stem from five unrelated incidents during a crime spree the week after Scarbrough’s murder.

Vulpis sat quietly, his hands folded, as court clerk David Fields read the verdict, which followed five days of deliberation and a three-month trial.

Judge Alan B. Haber ordered jurors to return to court June 22 for the penalty phase of the trial.

Because Vulpis was convicted of committing a murder in the course of a burglary and robbery, the jury has the choice of sentencing him to either death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Scarbrough’s husband, Ron, told authorities that he found her dead in the hot tub of their home in the 3800 block of Ridgemoor Drive.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle R. Rosenblatt told the jury that Vulpis killed Scarbrough after she discovered him burglarizing her home, from which she ran an executive recruiting business.

Vulpis was arrested May 15, 1986, by Los Angeles police on suspicion of robbing a West Los Angeles clothing store at gunpoint. Police linked him to Scarbrough’s murder during questioning about the robbery.

Vulpis later told detectives he was interrupted during the Studio City burglary by a dark-haired woman fitting Scarbrough’s description, said Rosenblatt, the prosecutor in the case. Vulpis told police that he chased the woman into a bedroom, then strangled her and dumped her body into the hot tub, Rosenblatt said.

Vulpis told detectives that he killed Scarbrough by accident and asked to plead guilty to second-degree murder, Rosenblatt said.

But Vulpis last month testified at his trial that detectives coerced him into making the confession.

Rosenblatt said Vulpis gave police details of the killing that only the killer would know, including that Scarbrough was killed in her bedroom, that the room had wall-to-wall mirrors and that the killer removed a ring from Scarbrough’s finger.

James G. Cooney, one of Vulpis’ two attorneys, sought during the trial to discredit the confession and the credibility of two jail-house informants who testified that Vulpis had told them details of the crime.

Vulpis is being held without bail in County Jail.