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Man Gets 27 Years to Life in Hospital Killing

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A 23-year-old Sylmar man was sentenced to 27 years to life in state prison for shooting to death his ex-girlfriend in front of a dozen of her co-workers at a Van Nuys hospital.

Adam Rey Espinoza was convicted Aug. 5 by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury of first-degree murder in the death of Tina Guardiana, 24, of Sylmar on Dec. 8, 1986.

Espinoza came to Valley Hospital Medical Center, where Guardiana worked as a billing clerk, grabbed her by the hair and shot her twice with a handgun after she refused to leave with him. She died a few minutes later. Espinoza surrendered to Los Angeles police the next day.

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Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz gave Espinoza the maximum sentence of 25 years for the murder and added two years because he used a gun.

Espinoza’s attorney, Peter Krupinsky, had asked for a verdict of voluntary manslaughter, saying the fact that Espinoza shot Guardiana in front of a roomful of witnesses showed it was an unpremeditated act.

He contended that Espinoza became enraged over Guardiana’s refusal to discuss a police report she had filed accusing Espinoza of raping her.

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But Deputy Dist Atty. Edward Nison argued that Espinoza deliberately killed Guardiana after she spurned him.

Guardiana’s relatives have filed a $5-million wrongful death suit in Van Nuys Superior Court accusing the hospital of negligent security.

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