Transient Gets 11 Years in Gardener’s Slaying
A Pasadena Superior Court judge sentenced a 28-year-old transient to 11 years in prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of a Glendale gardener.
Christopher Pinedo was initially charged with first-degree murder in the April 5 strangling of Jimmy Noda, 67. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Nancy M. Naftel said Pinedo pleaded guilty in exchange for a lesser charge. Judge J. Michael Byrne gave out the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter.
On April 5, police found Noda’s bloodstained Toyota Camry abandoned in the parking lot of a North Hollywood restaurant. Glendale police went to Noda’s Wilson Avenue house and found his body in the living room.
Pinedo was arrested April 26 in Studio City after two officers stopped him for jaywalking and noticed that he matched a composite drawing circulated by investigators in the Noda case.
Authorities said they were uncertain how Noda and Pinedo met but added that they believe the transient fled in Noda’s car after a struggle. Pinedo told police that he had beaten Noda after the gardener made a sexual advance, but he claimed he left while Noda was still alive, authorities said.
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