Man Sentenced in Leisure World Killing
A 28-year-old transient was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for the 1992 murder and robbery of a Leisure World resident that shocked the 9,500-member retirement community in Seal Beach.
Duane Stanley Mesaeh had admitted strangling Thomas D. Turner, 66, in his Leisure World apartment, but contended that he killed Turner in self-defense after the older man made unwanted sexual advances toward him, defense attorney G. David Haigh said.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis Rosenblum argued that Mesaeh stole Turner’s car, watch and wallet after Turner fed him and gave him a place to stay. A jury convicted Mesaeh of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in April.
On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald gave Mesaeh the maximum sentence. Haigh promised to appeal the decision.
The February, 1992, murder was believed to be the first slaying by a stranger inside the locked gates of Leisure World-Seal Beach.
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