Man, 18, Convicted in Stabbing of Elderly Woman

A Superior Court jury convicted an 18-year-old Reseda man Friday of attempted murder for stabbing a 74-year-old woman 20 times during a robbery and leaving her to die, handcuffed to the kitchen sink.

Eric Serin, who was 17 when he attacked Edith Rose in her Reseda home, sat impassively as the verdict was announced. He faces life in prison.

“I feel sorry for the kid, but I’m glad they came to the decision they did,” Rose said in a telephone interview after the verdict. “I think he’s been a bad boy for a long time.”

Serin’s defense attorney had conceded that his client assaulted and robbed Rose, but argued that Serin should be convicted on a lesser charge than first-degree attempted murder because he was mentally disturbed.

“We’ve never taken the position that what he did isn’t serious,” defense attorney Ira Salzman said. “He just doesn’t function like a normal 18-year-old.”

But the jury took about two hours to return a first-degree attempted murder conviction, along with convictions for burglary and robbery. “The jury’s verdict is what really happened in this case--he was in that house robbing her and he announced that he was going to kill her,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Doyle said.

During the trial, the diminutive Rose described the attack in chilling detail. It began the afternoon of Dec. 29, 1994, when Serin went to her house, saying he needed to place an emergency telephone call.

Inside, she testified, Serin handcuffed her, then stabbed and beat her as she struggled to free herself. During the fight, Serin forced Rose to write a $2,000 check to “Eric Lercin.”

“I remember thinking, ‘This is it. I wonder if I have everything in order,’ ” Rose recalled Friday. “Then I said, ‘Wait a minute. You’re not going to die.’ So I had to fight.”

Rose blacked out after Serin choked her with an electrical cord. She testified that when she regained consciousness, Serin said, “Why don’t you die?” She said Serin then repeatedly stabbed her in the side. She asked him to leave so she could die in peace.

Serin finally handcuffed her to the pipes under the kitchen sink and left with some of her credit cards. He went home, changed clothes and went to work at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant.

A neighbor found Rose minutes after Serin left.

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Although Serin was a juvenile at the time of the attack, he was ordered to stand trial as an adult. The next step is for the California Youth Authority to evaluate Serin and determine whether he should remain imprisoned at Juvenile Hall or sent to state prison. Serin will be sentenced after the Youth Authority makes its report in May.

Serin’s family was shaken by the verdict, and described the strapping teen as a child in an adult’s body. Serin’s psychiatrist and teachers testified during the trial that he suffers from attention deficit disorder and has trouble controlling his impulses.

“He’s a perfectly wonderful kid who only wanted to graduate from high school,” said his aunt, breaking into tears. “Even yesterday, he was so worried about being away because he wanted to finish his classes.”

The aunt, who asked not to be named, said Serin was bounced from one special education school to another against his family’s wishes. “Through the years he fell through society’s cracks, and now society is doing away with him.”

Rose, who is now 75--”but 35 at heart”--said she has sympathy for Serin. “It’s a wasted life,” she said.