Stalker Gets Life for Slaying Ex-O.C. Woman

A man has been sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of a former girlfriend, whom he pursued from Laguna Beach and stalked for weeks before the murder.

Steven Hilton Smith, 31, was sentenced Thursday to prison for “the rest of his natural life” by King County Superior Court Judge Brian Gain. The maximum under the state’s standard sentencing range was 29 years, and Deputy Prosecutor Robin Fox recommended a 58-year term, citing the brutality of the case.

Gain said his sentencing decision was based on Smith’s cruelty to the victim. He described the defendant as a lifelong manipulator with “no moral compass” and said he would be a threat to society if he was ever released.

Deborah Shifflet, 35, was ambushed on a bike path as she walked to work April 2, and stabbed five times.

She met Smith at a Laguna Beach health-food store and for a short time they were romantically involved. Smith was homeless at the time and Shifflet let him stay with her, but he soon began hitting and choking her.

She moved to Seattle a year ago to get away from him, staying with a cousin.

Smith followed, hitchhiking there in March. He cultivated a relationship with the cousin and at one point was staying in the same house as Shifflet--unknown to her. She awoke one morning to find him sitting on her bed.

Shifflet got a no-contact order from police March 16, but Smith continued calling her at work and showing up at her house. He told the cousin he would kill himself without Shifflet, but later talked of blinding Shifflet with ink and threatened to kill her, Fox said.

One of Shifflet’s neighbors witnessed the stabbing and called police.

Smith made a rambling statement to the court in which he apologized to Shifflet’s family.