Man Sentenced for Murder of Ex-Boss
A 23-year-old Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to the maximum 25 years to life in prison for the murder of a former employer who had denied him a document needed for income tax purposes.
Kevin Kristiansen was convicted of the July 11, 1987, murder of Annette Robertson, 51, who had employed Kristiansen as a hairdresser.
In giving Kristiansen the maximum prison term for first-degree murder, Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno rejected a defense lawyer’s argument that Kristiansen should have been convicted of a lesser charge because he was under the influence of drugs when he killed Robertson.
Deputy Public Defender Dennis P. O’Connell said that Kristiansen went “berserk” on drugs and stabbed the unconscious woman more than 20 times because he thought she was screaming.
Kristiansen hit the victim in the head with a glass decanter, suffocated her and then stabbed her repeatedly, according to testimony during the trial last April.
Kristiansen was arrested by Huntington Beach police four days after the murder when his bloody fingerprint was found in Robertson’s home.
The defendant told police he had gone to Robertson’s house the afternoon of the murder. He said he had become angry when Robertson refused to give him a form he needed to complete his income tax returns.
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