Soviet Defector Killed Activist, Jury Finds

A Soviet army deserter who was hailed as a hero after his defection to the United States faces the death penalty after being found guilty Monday of murdering the Estonian activist who took him into her North Hollywood home.

After four days of deliberations, jurors convicted Tauno Waidla, 23, on six felony counts stemming from the July, 1988, killing of Viivi Piirisild, 52, who was beaten and stabbed to death in the entryway of her home. Waidla could face the death penalty because he killed Piirisild during a burglary.

The penalty phase of Waidla’s trial will begin Jan. 2. The same jury that convicted Waidla will hear evidence and must decide whether he should spend the rest of his life in prison or die in the gas chamber. San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab will make the final determination based on the jury’s recommendation.

Waidla, who appeared self-assured throughout the eight-week trial, slumped in his chair as the court clerk read the verdict.

“The right thing was done,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven Ipsen said afterward.

Defense attorney Martin Gladstein refused to comment.

Piirisild’s husband, Avo, said he was relieved.

“I’m just glad it’s over for the time being,” he said, adding that the experience has chilled neighborly feelings in him. “I have no desire to help anyone else at the moment.”

During the trial, Ipsen argued that Waidla killed Viivi Piirisild because she evicted him from her house and refused to support him any longer. Waidla had lived in the Piirisild house for nearly a year, doing odd jobs in exchange for room and board.

Piirisild was a popular leader in the tightly knit local Estonian community, and news of her death shocked Estonian emigrants nationwide.

Waidla denied any part in the death. He testified that he was hitchhiking across the United States when Piirisild was killed. However, a witness testified that he saw Waidla in the neighborhood the day of the slaying.

Estonian communities in New York and Los Angeles opened their arms and wallets to Waidla and fellow defector Peter Sakarias, 23, after their arrival in the United States. But the two outstayed their welcome, living off the generosity of their countrymen and becoming combative when support was cut off, according to members of the Estonian community.

Sakarias, also charged with murder in the case, was judged mentally incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Atascadero State Hospital.

Investigators believe that the two men broke into the Piirisild house in search of food and money after Waidla’s eviction. But the men were surprised when the woman came home from a doctor’s appointment. Waidla attacked Piirisild with a hatchet and Sakarias allegedly knifed her, authorities said. Her body was discovered in a back bedroom.

After the killing, the two men allegedly pawned Piirisild’s jewelry and used one of her credit cards to charge two airline tickets to New York.

Waidla was arrested more than a month after Piirisild’s death on charges of illegally crossing the U.S.-Canadian border while carrying a handgun in his backpack.

Although Waidla admitted killing Piirisild in police interviews, he later recanted, saying he made up the story because he was afraid that he would be beaten as he was by police in his native country.