Diabetic Defense Fails; Jury Convicts Man of Killing Wife

A diabetic who claimed he was suffering from acute low blood sugar and was in an “unconscious state” when he stabbed his estranged wife to death last year was found guilty Tuesday of premeditated murder.

Jurors deliberated about four days before finding Steven Todd Summers, 32, guilty of first-degree murder in the March 22, 1995, slaying of Brenda Suzanne Summers.

The 28-year-old Placentia woman, who had won a restraining order against her husband months earlier, was repeatedly stabbed in the throat, face and side after she noticed her husband was following her and pulled over in the parking lot of a Fullerton restaurant.

“It’s a classic case of domestic violence,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Diana Gomez said.

“This victim did everything to indicate this relationship was over.”

The prosecutor contended during the Orange County Superior Court trial that Summers, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of spousal abuse three months before the killing, planned to kill his wife that afternoon out of jealousy, arming himself with a hunting knife and watching her through binoculars before following in a car she wouldn’t recognize.

Summers, taking the stand in his own defense, said he was not aware of what he was doing, and was suffering from an acute hypoglycemic condition caused by his diabetes. Summers has been diabetic since he was 15 years old.

“I don’t think he intended to kill her at all,” said defense attorney Dean W. Hall, who had urged jurors to return with a verdict of a lesser murder charge, or manslaughter.

The attorney said his client also was not allowed to tell jurors the full story of the relationship with his wife and was carrying a knife that day because he feared for his own life.

The prosecutor called his contention that he had blacked out a “convenient excuse” and said Brenda Summers may have fought back, but only after he initiated the abuse.

According to court records, Brenda Summers won a restraining order to keep her husband away in December 1995, after he threw her into a shower door, knocking her unconscious, and burned her feet with a curling iron.

In seeking the restraining order, Brenda Summers alleged other acts of abuse and said she feared he would seek revenge on their daughter, who was 2 at the time.

Steven Summers pleaded guilty Dec. 13, 1995, to misdemeanor charges of spousal abuse, and to assault and battery, stemming from the curling iron incident. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to undergo counseling for spousal abuse, which he was doing at the time of his murder arrest.

The fatal attack occurred about 4 p.m. after Brenda Summers dropped off their daughter at the home of her husband’s parents. A short time later, the victim and a male friend, who was giving her a ride, noticed they were being followed and pulled over on North Placentia Avenue in Fullerton.

Brenda Summers ran from the car and was pursued by her estranged husband to an area between the restaurant and a car wash, witnesses said. She died at the scene before police, summoned by her friend, could arrive. Steven Summers, who fled before police arrived, turned himself in the next day.

The couple had been married for about two years.

Steven Summers will face 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced June 7. His lawyer said a motion for a new trial is planned.