Jury to decide if abusive man planned girlfriend’s’ killing or acted in self defense

A jury that began deliberation Monday will decide whether a Huntington Beach man who had been abusing his girlfriend decided to kill her after she had him evicted, or if the defendant was attacked and then forced to stab the victim to death as an act of self-defense.

Craig Charron said his girlfriend, Laura Sardinha, snuck up behind him and tried to cut his throat with a knife, leading to a struggle on Sept. 2, 2020.

But prosecutors say the defendant ambushed the victim, then cut himself and manipulated evidence in an effort to gaslight investigators.

Charron’s attorney, Michael L. Guisti, acknowledged his client had been violent and manipulative with Sardinha in the weeks leading up to her killing. He hit her hard enough to perforate one of her ear drums according to a medical exam performed Aug. 16, 2020.

The defendant is heard threatening to end their relationship as the victim repeatedly tells him she is in pain in a cellphone video recorded that morning. Later Charron begs Sardinha not to report the incident to authorities in texts sent while she was at the hospital.

“I want to be able to talk without you calling me names or hitting me,” she wrote in a reply. “...I’m afraid you won’t stop.”

But the abuse didn’t end, according to footage recorded in the hours leading up to Sardinha’s killing. She is heard asking him to leave her alone over 50 times as he harasses her at 4 a.m. Charron is seen continuing to berate her in videos shot on their patio later that morning.

Charron is also heard saying “don’t hurt me” when his girlfriend picks up her laptop and walks away from him to go inside. Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Janine Madera claimed that was an attempt to manipulate potential viewers that the defendant was afraid of being harmed by her. The prosecutor also noted Sardinha was 10 inches shorter and over 100 pounds lighter than the defendant.

After that exchange Sardinha went to their building’s leasing office to have Charron evicted and the locks to their apartment replaced. When he texted to ask if he could come over to gather his belongings, she referred him to property management.

By that afternoon the victim was at home celebrating her freedom from the defendant in a conference call with her mother and best friend. That conversation was interrupted at around 1:15 p.m. when Sardinha’s relatives heard her exclaim “Oh my [expletive] God, he’s here,” followed by her screams and the sound of her phone falling to the ground. It’s unclear how Charron got back into the residence.

“She fought like hell to her last dying breath,” Madera told jurors. “...Laura was the most powerful witness you heard in this trial.”

Blood streaked the walls and floors of their apartment in photos presented during trial. Sardinha was slumped facedown against the jamb of their bathroom door with two fatal stab wounds to the chest as well as numerous cuts to her head and hands. In police body-worn camera footage, Charron was seen lying on the ground in the hallway just around the corner with wounds to his throat and chest.

The defendant’s injuries featured several shallow slashes next to a two deeper cuts, one on his neck and another at his heart. His attorney, Michael L. Guisti, claimed those were made by the victim. However, Dr. Nicole Ellis of the Orange County Coroner’s Office testified that the less serious lacerations were likely what are known as hesitation wounds that were self-inflicted.

Madera suggested Charron attempted to flee the scene of the crime but, after seeing flashing sirens and hearing a police helicopter overhead, he instead went back inside, wounded himself and planted a knife near Sardinha’s body. She pointed to droplets of what appeared to be blood only seen in the body worn camera footage after officers arrived, as well as a pool of Charron’s blood near the entrance of their home that was separate from where he and the victim were found, as evidence of her theory.

He challenged Madera’s theory, noting that Charron nearly bled out as a result of his injuries. Guisti said it was unreasonable to believe his client could have precisely timed events “just in time to lose his vital signs and die on the floor” before getting resuscitated by first responders.

“They need you to believe my client is a faker,” Guisti said.

Madera challenged Charron’s credibility, noting that in previous interviews with police he claimed to have been arguing with Sardinha for about an hour before their violent confrontation. However her mother and best friend heard no such argument while they were on the phone with her immediately prior to the attack.