Man Gets 16 Years to Life in Girlfriend’s Stabbing Death
A Van Nuys man who led police to himself when he reported a foul odor coming from his ex-girlfriend’s home was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for her murder, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Robert Vann Carson, 35, made police suspicious when they didn’t smell anything unusual outside the Van Nuys apartment of 21-year-old Lea Diann Thomas. Police found the body of the woman, who had been stabbed to death, when they went inside her home on Aug. 3 last year. They arrested Carson the next day.
Carson was sentenced Monday in Van Nuys Superior Court for second-degree murder.
The couple had a history of problems, and Thomas was trying to break up with Carson shortly before he killed her, police said.
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