Murderer Had Troubled Youth, Psychologist Says

A psychologist hired by the defense told jurors Monday that convicted murderer Gunner Lindberg had been scarred by a tumultuous childhood, during which he developed a personality disorder that manifested itself in an uncontrollable rage on the night of the killing.

Roberto Flores said the 22-year-old former Tustin resident suffered a host of symptoms that are consistent with a severe personality disorder, including a lack of remorse for his actions and a need to boast about himself “to cover up underlying feelings of inadequacy.”

Flores, a Cal State Long Beach professor, said the disorder stemmed from Lindberg’s troubled childhood, marked by a lack of a father figure and the family’s frequent moves.

“There were a number of ruptures and disturbances in his life,” Flores said before the defense wrapped up its case Monday during the penalty phase of the trial.

Lindberg, a leader of a fledgling white supremacist gang, was convicted a week ago of attempting to rob a young man on a Tustin tennis court and then stabbing him to death because he was Asian.

The guilty verdict marked what is believed to be Orange County’s first capital case involving a hate crime, one of two special circumstances that subjects Lindberg to a possible death penalty.

The murder occurred on the night of the Super Bowl in 1996, when 24-year-old Thien Minh Ly was in-line skating alone on an unlit tennis court at Tustin High School.

According to Flores, Lindberg had wanted to show his friend, Domenic Christopher, how easy it would be to kill somebody and get away with it. The pair were on their way home because they couldn’t find anybody to attack when Christopher spotted Ly and said, “There’s somebody right there.”

Lindberg and Christopher, both of whom apparently had smoked marijuana, approached Ly with a knife and asked if he had a car. When Ly said he didn’t, Lindberg stabbed him about 50 times, leaving two large gashes across his throat, investigators said.

Police arrested both Lindberg and Christopher, who was 17 at the time, after finding a letter in which Lindberg boasted about “killing a Jap.” Christopher, who admitted during his trial to being at the scene, was convicted of murder earlier this year and sentenced to prison.

A Superior Court jury is expected to begin deliberating today on whether Lindberg should be executed or sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Lindberg grew up not knowing his biological father, who left when he was 2 years old, defense attorney David Zimmerman said. The family, including his younger brother, moved from state to state and then to Okinawa, Japan, where Lindberg’s stepfather was stationed.

There, Lindberg was involved in a car theft and subsequent auto accident that left a permanent scar near his left eye, Flores said. The incident prompted Japanese officials to expel Lindberg from the island. About the same time, Lindberg began experimenting with drugs, the psychologist said.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Debbie Lloyd tried to establish that Lindberg was neither influenced by drugs nor suffering from any kind of illnesses “like having a tumor in the brain” when he attacked Ly. Furthermore, she said the violent behavior dated back to his early teen years “before any methamphetamine” and resulted in a string of robberies and other crimes.