Craig J. Charron was found guilty of first-degree murder on Tuesday, April 29, in the fatal stabbing of Laura Sardinha.
Sardinha, 25, was stabbed multiple times on Sept. 2, 2020, in her apartment in Huntington Beach, Calif., according to the Los Angeles Times. At the time of her murder, she had taken out a restraining order against Charron, now 39, and demanded that he move out of her apartment.
She then changed her locks on Sept. 2, 2020. When she returned home around 1:15 p.m., she was on a three-way call with her mother and her best friend. But her call was interrupted when she noticed Charron inside the unit, and she said, “Oh my God, he’s here.”
Her friend ended the call to dial 911, but Sardinha called her back. She then left a 37-second voicemail message in which she can be heard screaming, “He’s gonna kill me!” and “Get away from me!”
Charron stabbed Sardinha with multiple knives. He stabbed her twice in the chest, nearly cut her nose off and stabbed her in the head so hard it bent the knife he was using, Orange County Deputy District Attorney Janine Madera said, per the L.A. Times. “If you listen to it carefully, you hear a woman narrating her own murder,” Madera told jurors during her closing argument at Charron’s trial.
A representative for the O.C. District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information.
Police reported to the scene, where they discovered Sardinha dead and Charron bleeding from chest and neck wounds. During the trial, the prosecution suggested Charron had inflicted the wounds to say that Sardinha had attacked him. “It doesn’t matter if he self-inflicted wounds or if she defended herself,” Madera said, per the L.A. Times. “He was the aggressor 100% of the time.”
“You don’t hear the defendant on it, and his silence is absolutely deafening,” she said. “He’s enjoying taking his time killing her.”
Two weeks before Sardinha’s murder, Charron allegedly busted her eardrum. He also allegedly received $100,000 of a $750,000 settlement she obtained from a motorcycle accident.
Along with recounts of Charron and Sardinha’s relationship, three of Charron’s ex-girlfriends also testified that he was physically abusive and had taken out restraining orders against him.
Charron’s attorney, Michael Guisti, said during his closing arguments that his client’s history of violence was “non-murderous violence.” Guisti argued that the evidence may have indicated that he acted in the heat of passion or self-defense.
The jury found Charron guilty after less than a day of deliberations.
His sentencing date is on Friday, July 25; he faces the possibility of life in prison.
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If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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