Crime & Safety

Sentencing Postponed for Tourist Murderer

Paul Edmond Carpenter will be sentenced Jan. 18 for murdering a German man near a Santa Monica hotel.

Sentencing was postponed Wednesday for Paul Edmond Carpenter, the man convicted of murdering a German tourist amid a botched robbery near a Santa Monica beachfront hotel.

Carpenter faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole for killing Horst Fietze, who was vacationing in California from Germany with a group of friends in October 1998. Carpenter's new sentencing date is Jan. 18.

Along with his girlfriend and two others, Carpenter attempted to rob Fietze and his companions Oct. 12, 1998. During the robbery, Fietze was shot to death near .

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In 2001, the three other people —Roshana Latiesha Roberts, 31; Lamont Dion Santos, 33; and Tyrina Lakeisha Griffin, 30—were convicted in connection with the slaying.

Eight years later, Carpenter, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in and deported from Jamaica, where he had reportedly lived a "double life" as a father and employee at a high-end car dealership. 

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Carpenter, 34, was found guilty in October of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted second-degree robbery stemming from the incident. The jury spent a day and a half deliberating its decision.

— City News Service contributed to this report.


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