Jan 7, 2008 1:32 pm US/Pacific
Man Gets 40 Years For Killing Crime Witness
Victim's Decomposing Remains Were Found In Van Nuys Storage Unit
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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Jeffrey Lawrence Weaver, 38, was sentenced Monday to 40 years to life in prison.
KUTV
One of two men convicted in the shooting death of a man whose decomposing remains were found in a Van Nuys self-storage unit was sentenced Monday to 40 years to life in prison for carrying out the killing because the victim witnessed a crime. "You were an active and direct participant in a cold-blooded murder," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor told 38-year-old Jeffrey Lawrence Weaver. "You actively participated in the murder of someone who was helpless. It doesn't get much lower than that."
Weaver was convicted Dec. 13 of second-degree murder for the June 2003 shooting death of Christopher Walsh, whose remains were found swathed in plastic and duct tape in a storage container on July 2, 2003.
Co-defendant David Michael Steinberg, 41, of Studio City, was convicted Dec. 11 of first-degree murder and is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Feb. 5.
Steinberg shot Walsh multiple times because he had witnessed Steinberg shoot at an off-duty sheriff's deputy, who was not struck by the gunfire, at a Chatsworth condominium complex in January 2003, and Weaver finished him off with a gunshot to the head, according to prosecutors.
In a brief statement to the victim's family before being sentenced, Weaver said the victim "was alive when I walked out of there." "I didn't shoot him, but I probably could have helped him," the defendant said. The judge was unconvinced. "Mr. Weaver, your words ring hollow as far as I'm concerned," Pastor said. "You are a murderer. You are a coward."
The judge said he would recommend that Weaver never be released on parole. The victim's family members joined in urging the maximum punishment for Weaver. "I cannot begin to tell you how devastating it is to have a family member murdered," one of Walsh's brothers said. "My brother's life was taken by two spineless cowards," Dennis Walsh said. He promised that Weaver would see him at any parole hearing.
Weaver is set to be sentenced Feb. 4 in connection with his plea to an unrelated robbery case in the San Fernando Valley.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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