Critically Burned Suspect Charged With Murdering Former Girlfriend

Orange County prosecutors filed murder charges Monday against a former Garden Grove man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, but awaited word on his physical condition to see when or if he can appear in court.

Brian Keith Framstead, 29, remained in critical condition at San Bernardino County Medical Center with third-degree burns over much of his body. He suffered the burns Saturday night when he doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire inside his car as police pursued him near Victorville.

“We could arraign him right in the hospital room, but I’m not even sure he’s coherent,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles J. Middleton, who is handling the case.

“It’s more likely at this point that he’ll get a public defender and we’ll just have to wait until his condition improves--or worsens,” Middleton said.

Prosecutors charge that Framstead, upset over the breakup of his stormy relationship with Tammy Marie Davis, shot the 19-year-old Stanton woman once in the head Friday night in Huntington Beach at point-blank range, just seconds after she screamed for help on a stranger’s doorstep.

Police say there are no known witnesses linking Framstead to the shotgun slaying. Middleton would not discuss the evidence that prosecutors have against the construction worker, who was last known to be living in Inglewood.

The murder came two days before Framstead was to report to Orange County Jail to begin serving a 6-month sentence for threatening Davis with a gun last year.

According to police and family members, Framstead had repeatedly harassed the young woman since they separated in April, 1989. Previously, the pair had lived together in a Garden Grove mobile home with their baby girl, and often quarreled within earshot of neighbors.

The situation became so volatile that Davis sought protection from the courts shortly after the breakup, Superior Court records in Santa Ana show.

Psychiatrist Surprised

In a handwritten statement to the court, Davis said Framstead had threatened her with a gun on April 22, 1989, when she visited him to pick up their daughter, Briana, now 21 months old. She alleged that Framstead taped her mouth partially shut, pushed her and the baby to the ground, then threatened her with a cocked gun.

Davis said she “kept repeating to him that I loved him and never planned to stay seperated (sic) forever. . . . He kept repeating that he only believed in one family and that’s all he wanted.” She said she was finally allowed to leave and then called the police.

According to court records, Framstead was later ordered not to bother or contact Davis or their daughter and to pay $250 a month in child support. A mediated agreement was later reached in which Framstead agreed to see a psychiatrist and was allowed to visit his daughter in the presence of a relative of Davis.

Los Angeles psychiatrist Paul Purgard said in an interview that Framstead stopped treatment about three months ago, saying he was about to serve his jail time.

“He was not fighting the sentence, and that was that, I figured. I figured there’s no big risk here, the man’s in prison,” Purgard said. “But he wasn’t. So it was a total shock when I heard what had happened.”

Superior Court Commissioner Jane D. Myers presided over much of the Davis-Framstead case in family court and in an interview Monday recalled it as a “a very unpleasant situation.”

Myers said she believes the courts are often effective in helping calm domestic problems and did all they could in this case.

“But when somebody is really intent on killing someone and is crazy enough to do it, there’s really not much that a piece of paper is going to do,” the commissioner said. “There’s not much point in second-guessing. It’s a terrible tragedy, but the only person responsible for what happened would seem to be Mr. Framstead.”