3 Convicted in ’98 Murder of Tourist in Santa Monica

A Los Angeles man and two women were found guilty Wednesday of killing a German tourist during an attempted robbery in Santa Monica in 1998.

When Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito announced his verdict at the non-jury trial, several spectators, all friends and family of the defendants, cried uncontrollably.

One defendant, Tyrina Griffin, 20, slammed her head and hands on the conference table and then argued with her attorney about whether she would attend her March 19 sentencing for second-degree murder.

“My life is gone already. What should I come back for?” the teary-eyed Griffin asked.

The family of the victim, Horst Fietze, 50, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.

Fietze was shot to death at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 12, 1998, while walking back to a hotel from the beach with his wife, Astrid, and two friends. Astrid Fietze and the two other tourists testified last week.

After the five-day trial, Ito convicted Lamont Dion Santos, 23, of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted robbery.

He convicted Griffin, of Los Angeles, and Roshana Latiesha Roberts, 21, of Paramount of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted robbery.

The defendants agreed to have Ito, rather than a jury, decide their guilt in exchange for lighter sentences.

Santos, who confessed to shooting Fietze, is facing 35 years to life with the possibility of parole. He could have faced life without parole.

The other two defendants are facing 16 years to life.

The district attorney’s office supported the unusual decision to have the case heard by a judge because it meant the three trials would be held simultaneously and the three surviving victims would not have to travel repeatedly to Los Angeles to testify, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Manzella.

Authorities are still searching for a fourth suspect, Paul Edmond Carpenter, 23, also of Los Angeles.

Fietze’s killing raised safety concerns in Santa Monica, a popular tourist area.

It also generated intense media coverage from Germany, which was still recovering from a highly publicized killing of a German tourist in Miami five years earlier.

The German government was so concerned by the Miami killing it issued a travel advisory, warning its citizens to avoid parts of the city. The government did not issue such an advisory in response to the Santa Monica case, deciding it was an isolated incident.

For the Fietzes and their longtime friends, Gisela and Jurgen Ulber, the killing was a horrific ending to what had been a dream vacation to the United States.

The two couples had saved for years for the trip, which started with a stop in New York.

The night Fietze was killed they decided to take one last stroll to the ocean before heading back to Germany the next day. They were on Appian Way, behind the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, when they were spotted by the defendants.

Santos, Carpenter and Griffin jumped out of a stolen car while Roberts stayed at the driver’s wheel, according to prosecutors.

Gisela Ulber, the first to spot the three robbers coming toward them, tried to alert her friends, Manzella said.

“Even though she didn’t speak a word of English she knew something was going down,” Manzella said.

“No dollars! No dollars!” Ulber told the three robbers.

Santos then confronted Fietze. After a brief struggle, Santos shot the tourist three times. Santos, who was arrested after fleeing to South Carolina, later confessed.

Santos’ attorney, Cary B. Weiss, tried unsuccessfully to get the confession excluded from the trial, arguing that it had been coerced.

During Weiss’ closing argument on Tuesday, he said that, with the exception of Santos’ statement, there was no evidence to prove his client had pulled the trigger.

The shooting could have just as easily been done by Carpenter, who is still missing, Weiss argued. He also said that if Santos did shoot Fietze it was because the gun discharged accidentally.

The two other defense attorneys, meanwhile, argued that their clients should not have to pay the consequences for a crime committed by Santos.

Under California law, all defendants can be charged with murder if someone is killed during the commission of a felony.

Charles C. Patton, the attorney who represented Griffin, said he does not believe the law is fair.

“It punishes the person who did not pull the trigger to the same extent as the person who pulled the trigger,” Patton said.

Roberts’ attorney, Stuart Glovin, a head deputy with the Los Angeles public defender’s office, made a similar plea to Ito during his closing arguments. Glovin said his client did not participate in the robbery, nor did she shoot Fietze.

“She never killed anyone. She never entertained the thought of killing anyone,” Glovin told Ito.

He also disputed the prosecution’s charges that his client drove the getaway car. Prosecutors found Roberts’ fingerprint on the rearview mirror but Glovin told Ito that prosecutors offered no proof that the fingerprint had been left on the night of the attack.

Manzella said Roberts, Griffin and their families should not have been shocked by Ito’s decision.

“A lot of defendants believe if they don’t pull the trigger, then they’re not guilty of murder,” he said. That, he said, is incorrect.