Solomona Convicted of Murder

A jury on Tuesday found a Buena Park homeowner guilty of second-degree murder for shooting a teenage boy who had stolen his outdoor Halloween decoration, prompting a dramatic courtroom confrontation between the families of the defendant and his victim.

In a mixed verdict, the jury found that Peter Solomona did not intend to kill popular high school senior Brandon Ketsdever but was guilty of murder because he knew his actions posed a deadly risk to the 17-year-old whom he suspected of stealing his plastic pumpkin display.

Jurors said they were emotionally torn in trying to decide the extent of blame to assign the 49-year-old grandfather.

“You have people’s lives in your hands,” said juror Judi Wright, holding back tears as she exited the courthouse. “You feel for that little boy. And then you have a family man. It’s hard when you’re dealing with people’s lives. . . . It’s tragic. Tragic.”

The decision created even more confusion in the case, and the judge at one point described the verdict as “inconsistent.”

As bailiffs moved to handcuff Solomona, family members began wailing and yelling for the judge to allow him to stay free until his sentencing next February. Bailiffs then had to restrain Solomona’s son, Leland, as he approached his father for one last embrace.

“I love you, Daddy. We’re in this together,” he cried.

Solomona’s sister begged the judge to reconsider. “You should let him spend the holiday with his family,” she screamed. “God help us.”

Outraged by the pleas, Ketsdever family members began shouting down the family, prompting the judge to threaten to clear the courtroom. Bailiffs formed a line between the families as about 10 Solomona family members walked out.

“They can visit [Solomona] any time they want,” explained Ketsdever’s mother, Jessie, after the hearing. “We can’t ever again talk to our son or watch him grow up or see what would have become of his life.”

Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan immediately denied defense attorney Mark Werksman’s request for a mistrial. Werksman said he would appeal the verdict. He said it was inconsistent for the jury to find Solomona guilty of murder but not guilty of intentionally firing the gun.

But prosecutors said the jury’s decision would stand because a second-degree murder charge doesn’t require intent. Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Carlisle-Raines said the second-degree charge applies in cases when a suspect shows a “conscious disregard” for a human life.

“I think it’s very clear-cut,” Carlisle-Raines said. “It’s an egregious act to take a loaded revolver and point it close to someone’s head.”

Solomona, who closed his eyes and began crying as the verdict was read, faces a 15 years-to-life prison term when he is sentenced Feb. 23.

The verdict ended a four-day trial that centered on one issue: Did Solomona fire the gun intentionally? The questions raised over accountability and firearms’ safety garnered the case national headlines and fueled the ongoing national gun control debate.

Nine eyewitnesses testified during the trial, including Solomona and the teenager grazed by the bullet that killed Ketsdever. Evidence ranged from grisly autopsy photos to the fanciful plastic Halloween display itself: evidence item No. 12, a 2 1/2-foot pumpkin with a grinning black cat poking its head out the top.

Ketsdever and two friends were out pulling pranks on the night of Oct. 18, 1999, when they swiped the pumpkin and other displays from Solomona’s property.

Minutes after speeding off in Ketsdever’s car, one of the teenagers threw a paper wad at another car. That car gave chase and eventually stopped the teenagers, by coincidence, in front of Solomona’s corner house. Solomona had just pulled into his driveway after searching unsuccessfully for the teens.

Solomona, gripping the loaded .357 magnum revolver, approached the teenagers’ car and demanded his property.

“Where are my pumpkins? I know you took my pumpkins,” Solomona testified he asked the boys. Solomona then pointed the gun inches away from Ketsdever’s temple and the gun fired. The teenager, who was strapped into the driver’s seat, never had a chance, prosecutors said.

Solomona claimed that he only wanted to frighten the teens from “pulling pranks” and didn’t think the gun was loaded. The gun “just went off,” he said, after his trigger finger bumped the car’s door frame.

Jurors said they doubted Solomona’s account of the shooting, even though they were struck by the sympathetic image of Solomona as a devoted and religious family man put forth by the defense. Their debate focused primarily on whether Solomona should be convicted of second-degree murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Jurors said two panel members at the start of deliberations were leaning toward a manslaughter verdict, but after carefully rereading the jury instructions and the various options, they changed their minds.

Christie Monreal, 25, of Fullerton said jurors ultimately decided that Solomona pulled the trigger unintentionally in the heat of the moment. They didn’t believe his story that the gun went off when he hit the weapon on the car.

“People’s emotions get aroused when [involved in a] confrontation,” Monreal said. “We didn’t think that it was accidental, but we didn’t think that it was intentional.”

Added juror Judi Wright: “Just going up to the car holding the gun three inches from Brandon’s head, we believed, was enough [for second-degree murder]. We didn’t believe the intent was there to kill him but to scare him.”

Solomona’s 21-year-old son, Leland, said the family would stand by his father. “He should have been acquitted,” he said afterward.

But Jon Ketsdever, Brandon’s father, said Solomona got off easy. He wanted the jury to return a first-degree murder conviction, which would have led to a possible life sentence.

“We always said he was a murderer, now he’s a convicted murderer,” Ketsdever said.