17-Year-Old Boy Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder : Justice: A Huntington Beach youth who said he killed his roommate to free himself from physical and sexual abuse could be sentenced to life in prison.

A Huntington Beach teen-ager who claimed that he killed his roommate to free himself from months of physical and sexual abuse was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 1989 shooting death.

Brian Applegate, 17, could be sent to prison for 27 years to life by Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald. The judge also has the option of sending Applegate to the California Youth Authority, where he could be released at age 25.

“I’m just shocked at this jury’s verdict,” Deputy Public Defender Carol Lavacot said. “With the evidence of abuse we were able to show, I don’t think anybody expected this.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick H. Donahue did not show the same surprise.

“This was a first-degree murder case,” the prosecutor said. “The evidence of premeditation was in the defendant’s own taped confession.”

Applegate, who was 16 at the time of the murder, admitted to police that he shot Paul Londono, 25, on Jan. 8, 1989, and then burned his body near the beach.

But Applegate testified that he had been repeatedly raped by Londono and was often beaten. He said he decided the only way he would ever be free would be to kill him.

Defense attorney Lavacot called a stream of character witnesses in an effort to show that Londono was manipulative and had dominated Applegate.

But the prosecution argued that Applegate was a sophisticated teen-ager who tried to cover up his crime and nearly succeeded.

“This is a very bright fellow,” Donahue said Wednesday. “He was able to convince even some of the victim’s relatives that he had nothing to do with his death. And he almost got away with it.”

Several months after the shooting, acquaintances of Applegate saw bloodstains on his bedding. A police investigation followed, and Applegate was arrested a short time later.

Applegate met Londono in Florida when Applegate was a busboy at a gay bar, although Lavacot claims that Applegate himself is not gay. Both sides agree that the two young men struck up a friendship and moved to California together in June, 1988.

Applegate had been on probation for car theft in Florida. He said Londono had told him that if he did not submit to a homosexual relationship, he would see to it that Applegate was sent to prison in Florida.

But on the day Londono was killed, witnesses testified, he had told his relatives that he had been trying to get Applegate to move out and that the younger man had refused. Londono was shot in the head as he slept.

“No one will ever really know what all happened there before the shooting,” Donahue said. “But it’s clear that the defendant sat down and thought about what he was going to do before he did it. That’s first-degree murder.”

Lavacot said she had expected the jurors to return with a voluntary manslaughter verdict at most.

She said she plans to argue a substantial case at the June 15 sentencing hearing in seeking a Youth Authority commitment for her client; Donahue said he will argue in favor of a prison sentence.

“I don’t want this guy back out on the streets when he is 25,” Donahue said.

Applegate was tried as an adult after prosecutors cited the sophistication of the crime and Applegate’s criminal record.