Youth, 16, to Be Tried as Adult in Slaying

A 16-year-old Huntington Beach youth who told police that he killed his roommate after being forced into a homosexual relationship was ordered Monday to stand trial as an adult.

Brian Applegate, who admits that he fatally shot his roommate, Paul Londono, 25, and then burned his body near the beach, could face a prison sentence of 27 years to life if convicted.

But Applegate’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Carol E. Lavacot, contends that Applegate himself is the victim in this case, adding that she hopes his trial will result, at most, in commitment to the California Youth Authority.

Lavacot contends that Applegate shot Londono only after Londono raped him and threatened to never let him go.

“Before Brian got the gun, he sat down and thought, ‘Is it going to have to be this way the rest of my life?’ ” Lavacot said.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Jill W. Roberts said Lavacot still refers to Applegate as a child. Roberts echoed Superior Court Judge Betty Lou Lamoreaux’s statement Monday when she ordered Applegate tried as an adult: “He is not a child anymore.”

State law requires that a 16-year-old be tried as an adult if the crime is serious, shows sophistication and planning, and if the defendant has a history of other juvenile cases.

“His crimes steadily became more sophisticated until it came to this,” Roberts said.

But at Applegate’s trial, Lavacot intends to lay the blame for what happened on Londono.

Applegate met Londono in Florida when he was a bus boy at a gay bar where Londono was a bartender. Both the prosecution and the defense agree that the two struck up a friendship and decided to move to California together in June, 1988. But it meant that Applegate would be violating his probation. He had been arrested and placed on probation for the burglary of two neighbors’ houses and an auto theft.

The two moved to Huntington Beach, appearing to the outside world as brothers: Londono was Christopher Stiles; Applegate was Sean Stiles.

Prosecutor Roberts claims that the trouble began when Applegate was arrested in Orange County on suspicion of burglary. Londono told his family that he could not put up with his young roommate’s behavior and wanted him to move out.

But Public Defender Lavacot claims that just the opposite was true: Applegate wanted out because Londono had coerced him into a homosexual relationship against Applegate’s will.

“He told Brian if he didn’t cooperate, he would end up in prison back in Florida (as a probation violator), and that what happened to him there would be even worse,” Lavacot said.

On Jan. 8, 1989, Londono told one of his relatives that Applegate still had not moved out and that this was the night that they were going to have a serious talk about it.

But Applegate claims that Londono was only covering up and trying to hide the homosexual acts from his family. Lavacot claims that Applegate was the one who wanted to move out. When he told Londono that night that he was leaving on Feb. 1, Lavacot said, Londono raped him, then told him that forced sex would hurt even worse in prison.

Applegate reportedly waited between 30 minutes to an hour and a half before getting a gun and shooting Lavacot in the head while he slept. Lavacot said she believes that Applegate was still in a “heat of passion” state and should receive no more than a voluntary manslaughter conviction.

But prosecutor Roberts alleges that Applegate’s actions after the shooting are inconsistent with Lavacot’s version. Roberts alleges that Applegate burned the body on a bike path near the beach in Huntington Beach, stopping at a service station first to buy gasoline to set the body on fire. Then he told the slain man’s family that Londono had received a call from someone with whom he ran off.

The body went unidentified for two months. It was when a new roommate began to think that something was wrong that he entered Applegate’s room and discovered blood on his mattress. Applegate had brought the mattress with him from the house he shared with Londono. It was the one Londono was sleeping on when shot.

Investigators also said Applegate had stolen Londono’s car and sold it, and wrote $840 in forged checks from Londono’s bank account.

“It appears there was some kind of sexual relationship between the two,” said prosecutor Roberts. “But this was a case of cold-blooded, premeditated murder.”

Applegate first denied the incident, then confessed after the body was identified as Londono’s and autopsy reports showed that he had died of a gunshot wound.

Even if tried as an adult and convicted, Applegate could get a break on sentencing if the court hears the complete story, Lavacot said. A judge would have the option to send Applegate to the Youth Authority, where he could remain until he is 25.

“If he goes to prison, he’s not going to get any help,” Lavacot said. “I don’t think that’s where he belongs.”