Father Gets 40 Years for Killing Girl
A man who confessed on the Internet to killing his daughter by setting their house on fire was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday by a judge who said the man broke the most basic law of nature.
“Living creatures . . . protect their young,” Southwest District Judge Maurice Hunke told Larry Froistad Jr. “You chose to cause the death of the most vulnerable victim there could be: a child, your child.”
Froistad pleaded guilty in August to killing his daughter, Amanda, 5, in a 1995 house fire in Bowman. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Hunke suspended 10 years of Froistad’s sentence. He will be eligible for parole after 25 1/2 years.
Despite his earlier guilty plea, Froistad told the judge Thursday he did not kill his daughter and suggested his online confession was the result of a combination of drugs and depression.
Police in San Diego arrested Froistad at his home there in March. In a computer e-mail message, Froistad admitted killing his daughter and molesting her.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
