News, Santa Monica, Courts

Sentencing Postponed Again For Santa Monica Murderer Paul Edmond Carpenter

Posted Aug. 22, 2012, 2:30 am

Mirror Staff

Updated Aug. 22, 2012 - 11:15 a.m.

Sentencing was today postponed again for Paul Edmond Carpenter, who was convicted last year of first-degree murder for the 1998 shooting death of a German tourist during a botched robbery near a beachfront hotel in Santa Monica. Sentencing was originally scheduled in November 2011, but was postponed until January this year, but was postponed again.

Carpenter, 34, was convicted on Oct. 24 at the LAX branch courthouse for the first-degree murder of 52-year-old Horst Fietze, a tourist who had been visiting California from Germany with a group of friends.

Los Angeles Superior Court jurors deliberated for a day and a half before delivering the guilty verdict.

The jury also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder during the course of a robbery that took place near Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace of the Major Crimes Division said Carpenter was additionally convicted of three counts of attempted second-degree robbery with a principal armed allegation found to be true.

Carpenter faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Carpenter, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Jamaica where he had been living and working for several years using false identification. Jamaican authorities deported Carpenter to the U.S. in 2009 to stand trial for his crimes.

The victim had been visiting California with a group of friends when Carpenter, his girlfriend and two others attempted to rob the group in Santa Monica on Oct. 12, 1998. Fietze was fatally shot during the robbery.

Roshana Latiesha Roberts, 31, Lamont Dion Santos, 33, and Tyrina Lakeisha Griffin, 30, were convicted in 2001 in connection with the crimes.

Carpenter was successfully returned to Los Angeles County to face prosecution as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Jamaican Constabulary Force, and the Santa Monica Police Department.