Stabbing suspect claims self defense

By ERIC LINDBERG — Nov. 5, 2009

The man suspected of stabbing a fellow housemate in the neck at a sober living home in Santa Barbara admitted during his murder trial yesterday to delivering the fatal blow, but said it was an act of self defense.

Steven Shane Cisneros faces a charge of murder with several special allegations in the slaying of 45-year-old Lawrence Glenn Kaiser on Dec. 11, 2008.

He weathered a blistering cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron, who sought to establish the two men had an ongoing conflict in the days leading up to the murder.

Cisneros, 34 years old at the time of the stabbing, denied any bad blood with Kaiser, who had been staying at the sober living home at 231 W. Haley St. for only about a week. He testified that Kaiser had entered their shared dorm room on the morning of the stabbing and lunged at him with a knife for no apparent reason.

“It happened so fast,” Cisneros repeatedly said under questioning by Barron. At one point, he said, “I was in fear of my life and I’m still shaken up about it.”

Cisneros said he managed to wrestle the knife away from Kaiser as he lunged forward. Kaiser then attempted to throw a punch and stumbled forward, the defendant said, exposing the back of his neck.

“He lunged at me again and that’s when it happened,” Cisneros said. “That’s when I stabbed him.”

At 8:56 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2008, police received a 911 call from the sober living home reporting a stabbing. The victim had been stabbed through the back of the neck with a long kitchen knife and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Residents at the home told officers that Cisneros had been standing over Kaiser when they entered the room after hearing screams. Detectives tracked down the defendant the following day in a park in Camarillo after he reportedly confessed to several teenagers who, in turn, called authorities.

Cisneros denied telling those teens that Kaiser had been threatening him for days or that he had grabbed the knife off a bed and stabbed his roommate. But when Barron brought the three young men to the witness stand, they testified that Cisneros had told them a man had threatened him during the days leading up to the stabbing.

“I guess he thought [Kaiser] was going to hurt him, so he took first action,” one of the boys, a 17-year-old, testified.

The three teenagers said they had been hanging out at the park, smoking cigars after their car broke down, when Cisneros called them over to a picnic table where he was seated. The defendant reportedly told them he had an argument with a roommate, picked up a knife off the bed and stabbed him in the neck.

“He said it was because he had been threatened by that man earlier,” said one of the teenagers.

Cisneros denied saying anything about an argument with Kaiser, testifying that he had even offered his new roommate part of his dinner the night before.

“I guess you could say I liked him,” he said. “He wasn’t a bad guy.”

The following morning, Cisneros said he got up, showered and spotted Kaiser cooking breakfast in the kitchen as he headed out to the back porch to have a cigarette. After thumbing through a magazine in the living room, Cisneros said he went back to his room to get ready for work when Kaiser entered and tried to stab him.

After grabbing the knife away and stabbing Kaiser, the defendant said he went into shock and fled after several housemates started shouting at him. He said he called his girlfriend a few blocks away, who eventually drove the defendant to Oxnard with several friends.

Cisneros also placed some of the blame on his girlfriend for talking him into leaving town, saying that he had initially planned to turn himself in to authorities.

The trial continues tomorrow morning in Judge Brian Hill’s courtroom, when attorneys will make their final arguments and the jury will receive its instructions.

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Right. : 11/5/2009

If it was self defence, why did he run away? It doesn't make sense.

Roger Dodge

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What no "On Patrol" ADs : 11/5/2009

Boy they sure picked a bad day not to run half page ads...Bank heists, court room drama, and lo and behold another dispensary to blame all your woes on! Way to go Daily Beat Down!

boycott Boy

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Tragic : 11/10/2009

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