Murder conviction upheld in shooting death of San Diego police officer

The murder conviction of a felon in the 2010 “ambush” slaying of a San Diego police officer was upheld Friday by an appellate court.

A three-judge panel of the 4th Appellate Court upheld the second-degree murder conviction of Alex Charfauros, 30, in the killing of Officer Christopher Wilson.

Wilson, 50, who served in the Navy and was a 17-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, was assisting probation officers and U.S. marshals in finding a probationer considered to be harboring a suspect in an assault with a deadly weapon case.

Wilson and the others had gone to an apartment in the Skyline neighborhood on the night of Oct. 27, 2010.

Charfauros, who was on probation for weapons convictions, was spotted climbing down a ladder outside a bedroom window. He was arrested without incident.

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Officers “repeatedly asked Charfauros to tell them who was in the apartment and whether there were any weapons or drugs in the apartment,” according to a 45-page ruling.

Charfauros never fired a shot but insisted to officers that there were no weapons in the apartment, according to prosecutors.

When officers entered the apartment, “a volley of gunfire erupted” from two people barricaded in a bedroom, according to the ruling. Wilson was struck in the head.

An officer threw Charfauros against a wall and demanded, “Why didn’t you say something? All you had to do was tell us.”

Hours after the shooting, two people were found dead inside the apartment, apparent suicides: Holim Lee, who was wanted on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, and his girlfriend, Lucky Xayascene.

While there was no direct evidence that Lee and Xayascene had instructed Charfauros to lie about weapons being in the apartment, prosecutors asserted that it was the logical conclusion given the relationship between the three.

The appellate panel agreed.

Evidence showed that Lee was a wanted fugitive, that he and Charfauros were selling methamphetamine and that all three “had good reason to expect that it might be necessary for them to resist law enforcement,” the ruling said.

The three had a sign in their apartment, “We must protect this house.”

The trial judge sentenced Charfauros to 85 years to life in prison.

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