It took a jury in Orange County less than a day of deliberations to find a 39-year-old Air Force Veteran guilty in the grisly stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, a murder that was partially captured on voicemail nearly five years ago.
Laura Sardinha, 25, like at least three other women who testified at the trial, had taken out a restraining order against Craig Charron.
The couple had not been dating for very long when Charron moved into Sardinha’s Huntington Beach apartment in the 8400 block of Jenny Drive, where the abuse quickly started.
Sardinha, who had been working as a bartender’s assistant, had gotten into a motorcycle accident in 2019, leaving her unable to work that job, and was pursuing a psychology degree. In a settlement from the accident, she received $750,000, of which she gave Charron $100,000.
Prosecutors, according to the Los Angeles Times, said Charron responded by text, saying, “Thank you for showing me that you are all mine,” after receiving a large portion of the money.
In an exchange recorded on her phone just two weeks before her murder and presented during the trial, she complained to Charron that she couldn’t hear because of a busted ear drum. “You keep hitting me,” she said. “Massage my calves or end this relationship,” he replied.
On the day of her murder, Charron reportedly woke Sardinha up in the morning demanding oral sex, another exchange she recorded on her phone. She’s heard telling him to leave her alone and get away from her.
“You terrify me because you won’t leave,” she’s heard saying.
That same day, Sept. 2, 2020, before noon, Sardinha’s apartment manager arranged for maintenance to change the locks on her apartment, The Times Reported. She then proceeded to ignore Charron’s calls and texts.
At around 1:15 p.m., while on a three-way call with best friend and her mother, the 25-year-old said, “Oh my God, he’s here.”
Her friend hung up and called 911. Sardinha called her back, leaving a voicemail that O.C. Deputy Dist. Atty. Janine Madera described in closing arguments as a “woman narrating her own murder,” The Times reported.
It’s unclear how Charron got into the apartment. During the trial, he testified that he walked in through the unlocked door.
According to prosecutors, the 6-foot tall, 220-pound Air Force veteran stabbed the 25-year-old twice in the chest, almost cut her nose from her face and stabbed her in the head so viciously that it bent the knife.
Sardinha was dead when police arrived. Charron, still at the scene, was found bleeding from cuts to his chest and neck, wounds prosecutors said he inflicted himself.
Testifying in his own defense, the 39-year-old, who had 100 pounds and 9 inches on the 25-year-old, claimed she attacked him with a knife, and he stabbed her in self-defense.
Charron’s defense attorney, Michael Guisti, said during closing arguments that despite his client’s history of violence, it was “non-murderous violence,” The Times reported.
Convicted of first-degree murder, Charron faces the possibility of 26 years to life in prison. His sentencing is set for July 25.
