Watch CBS News

Man Found Guilty In 1998 Slaying Of German Tourist In Santa Monica

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A man extradited from Jamaica more than a decade after the slaying of a German tourist during a botched robbery in Santa Monica was convicted Monday of murder and attempted robbery charges.

Jurors deliberated a day and a half before finding Paul Edmond Carpenter guilty of the first-degree murder of 50-year-old Horst Fietze.

The jury also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder during the course of a robbery, and convicted him of three counts of attempted second-degree robbery, according to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace of the Major Crimes Division.

Carpenter, 34, faces a potential sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced by Judge Katherine Mader on Nov. 30.

Carpenter, a United States citizen, was arrested in Jamaica, where he had been living and working for several years under false identification.

He was returned to Los Angeles in 2009 to stand trial.

The victim had been visiting California with a group of friends when Carpenter, his girlfriend and two others attempted to rob the group behind the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Oct. 12, 1998.

Fietze, a building supervisor from Lobau, Germany, was fatally shot during the robbery.

Co-defendants Roshana Latiesha Roberts, 31, Lamont Dion Santos, 33, and Tyrina Lakeisha Griffin, 30, were convicted in 2001 for their roles in the crime, according to Grace.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.