Locksmith Convicted of Murder
An unemployed locksmith who used his knowledge of locks to break into a neighbor’s Lawndale apartment was convicted of murder Thursday for stabbing a friend 27 times when she caught him burglarizing the place.
After deliberating less than one day, a Torrance Superior Court jury convicted Todd Alan Morrison, 25, of first-degree murder during the commission of a felony.
The charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in state prison without possibility of parole when Morrison is sentenced May 10.
According to Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Duarte, Morrison and his victim, Susan Fugatt, became friends when they lived next door to one another. Fugatt was apparently killed March 30, 1990, when she went to check what was happening at another neighbor’s apartment.
Morrison was arrested for the murder after police discovered a bloody pillow case and a jewelry box in his home that had been taken from the burglarized apartment. Lab tests showed that the blood type on the pillow case matched Fugatt’s.
Tests also showed that drops of a rare blood type found in the burglarized apartment matched Morrison’s.
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