Brianna Kupfer murder trial: Homeless man sentenced to life

LOS ANGELES - After being found sane at the time of the crime, a homeless man who killed a UCLA graduate student -- stabbing her 46 times inside a Hancock Park boutique furniture store -- was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shawn Laval Smith, 34, was convicted Sept. 10 of first-degree murder for the Jan. 13, 2022, killing of Brianna Kupfer, 24.

After a brief hearing Wednesday morning that included a review of reports from a pair of doctors, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo determined that Smith was sane at the time of the crime, which was captured on a chilling audio recording. That determination cleared the judge to move ahead with the sentencing.

In addition to convicting him of murder, jurors in the trial also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait, along with an allegation that the defendant used a knife during the commission of the crime. Smith had pleaded both not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, necessitating the sanity phase of the case, for which the defendant waived a jury trial, allowing Escobedo to determine if he was sane at the time.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Brianna Kupfer murder trial: Homeless man convicted of killing UCLA student at furniture store
• Shawn Laval Smith: Suspected killer of Brianna Kupfer has a long history of arrests

Investigators said Smith is homeless and has a lengthy criminal record and was arrested several days after prosecutors said he allegedly stabbed Kupfer to death while she was working alone inside the Croft House in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue.  

An autopsy report revealed Kupfer suffered 46 sharp force injuries, consisting of 26 stab wounds and 20 incised wounds. She suffered 11 stabs to the chest, two in the abdomen, one to the pelvis, two on her right arm, five on her left arm, two on her right leg and three on her left leg. All the stab wounds were said to be about five inches deep.

Her manner of death was ruled a homicide and her cause of death was sharp force injuries.

In an exclusive interview with FOX 11's Hailey Winslow, Todd and Lori Kupfer described their daughter as empathetic and the family peacemaker. Now, they say they're constantly reminded that she's gone.

Prosecutors alleged there are images from security cameras of Smith at the store, along with his DNA on a knife left behind. Prosecutors also have a digital audio recorder they claim Smith left behind. On the recording, they claim to hear him rant about his hatred of women, as well as a recording of the killing.

Judge Mildred Escobedo did not allow the media to get a copy of the recording, which the prosecution played during their opening statement. The sounds were so disturbing that Brianna's family walked out of the courtroom.

"Her guard was down," the prosecutor said of the victim. "He was lying in wait for his perfect target ... She had no idea what he plans to do to her."

On a digital audio recorder that was left behind at the scene and was still running when police arrived, the woman's assailant can be heard saying that he was "not gonna hurt her" and ordering her to "just get down on the floor," then the woman can be heard screaming, and her assailant subsequently tells her, "It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, bitch."

Smith left the young woman bleeding on the ground, left through a back door of the business and calmly walked down an alley before disappearing between two apartment buildings, Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian told jurors.

Defense attorney Robert Haberer countered that the recording from December 2021 did not prove there was a motive to commit murder by the man he described as a "homeless drifter" roaming at commercial businesses to talk with people behind the counter.

Smith's lawyer called the recording a "mildly incoherent rant laced with profanities" and "not exactly some sort of manifesto" or "smoking gun" for a "ghastly murder 2 1/2 weeks later."

"The fact that he was upset about women is not a red flag," Haberer told jurors about the older recording, describing it as a "tantrum to himself" in which he was "blowing off steam."

Smith's attorney argued that it would take a "Grand Canyon leap of logic" to conclude from the recording about 2 1/2 weeks before the slaying that the man he repeatedly referred to as "the suspect" intended then to kill someone.

"The decision to attack Brianna Kupfer happened in an instant ... This was not planned in any way," the defense lawyer said.

The woman's body was found on the floor by a woman who came into the store with her boyfriend and then rushed outside to call 911.

City News Service contributed to this report