Craigslist crimes
The District Attorney's Office just announced that John Burgess pleaded guilty today in Los Angeles Superior Court to involuntary manslaughter for the death of a San Diego State University co-ed he met on Craigslist (press release after the jump).
Just as the release landed in my inbox, I was reading an interesting blog about if Craigslist can or should be legally responsible for crimes committed by its users. That discussion comes after the arrest of so-called Craigslist Killer Philip Markoff: "Although there has always existed a degree of tension between online freedoms on the one hand, and abusive (or even illegal) behavior online on the other, at some point lawmakers may be forced to take another look at how the equation is currently balanced."
LOS ANGELES - A convicted sex offender pleaded guilty today to involuntary manslaughter and concealing a body in connection with the 2007 death of San Diego State University co-ed Donna Jou.
John Steven Burgess, 36, who met Jou through a Craigslist ad on the Internet, told the court she came to his Los Angeles home around June 23, 2007 to party. He said he gave her a variety of drugs including cocaine, heroine and alcohol. Burgess said most of the people left later that night. He said when he awoke the next morning, he found Jou dead. He said he panicked and used his sailboat to dump her body in the ocean.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren of the Major Crimes Division who prosecuted the case said he and detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division have conducted numerous searches in the area, but have not recovered her body.
Burgess is scheduled to be sentenced to five years in state prison on May 18 by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Darrell Mavis. Burgess, who just completed a three-year sentence for failing to register as a sex offender, also agreed to meet privately with Jou's family on Thursday to answer their questions.
In exchange for his plea to one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one misdemeanor court of concealment of an accidental death, the charges of sale or transportation of heroin and sale or transportation of cocaine will be dismissed at sentencing.
About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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