Defendant in Mother’s Day Slayings Called ‘Victim’

Donna Kay Lee is not a calculating murderess, but a third victim of the double homicide she stands accused of, her lawyer told a jury Tuesday.

In his opening statements, Henry Hall said that Lee was stabbed in the abdomen and left for dead by the same person who killed Sonia Salinas and Doris Carasi in the Universal CityWalk parking lot on Mother’s Day 1995.

Lee, facing a possible death penalty, will testify and tell jurors her version of events, Hall said.

Hall suggested that the real killer is Paul Carasi, Lee’s co-defendant, who is the son of one victim and ex-boyfriend of the other.

“There were three victims in this case: Donna Lee, Doris Carasi and Sonia Salinas,” Hall told the jury. “It will be up to you to determine who was the perpetrator.”

Asked who the killer was, Hall said he was “real limited in what I could say” in court by Superior Court Judge Leslie Light.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Gilligan said Hall’s theory is “fantasy” not supported by physical evidence.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for both defendants, who are accused of plotting to kill Salinas and Doris Carasi to solve personal and financial problems.

Paul Carasi’s defense lawyer reserved his opening remarks until the prosecution presents its case. At the time of the slayings, Carasi told police that he, his mother and Salinas had been attacked by robbers. He claimed to have been knocked down and said he faked unconsciousness.

Gilligan said Lee was stabbed by Salinas during the struggle, leaving a stream of blood. He said she then fled with the murder weapon, two bloody fanny packs and a purse belonging to the women and Paul Carasi.

The couple was caught after Lee locked her keys in her car as she was dumping the bloody evidence off a Hollywood Freeway embankment four miles from the crime scene, Gilligan said.

As she bled from a wound that exposed her intestines, Lee summoned help on a freeway call box. When Highway Patrol officers arrived, they found the discarded knife and wallets. She told police she had been attacked by robbers.

Hall said Lee had gone to Universal CityWalk to meet Carasi, his mother and his ex-girlfriend after Mother’s Day dinner and work out their personal differences. But she was stood up, Hall said, and as she sat in her car, she was stabbed and left for dead.

Hall said Lee tried to drive herself to the hospital but pulled over on the freeway because she couldn’t make it any farther.

As Hall recounted his client’s version of events, Lee wiped away tears.