A man who was convicted of the 1993 murder of a woman whose body was found underneath a waterbed frame at a Lynwood motel was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in state prison.
Just before imposing Anthony Winston’s sentence, Superior Court Judge David Herriford cited the “very vicious attack with a blunt instrument” on Barnetta Burrell Navarro and noted that the victim’s body had been concealed.
The 66-year-old defendant was convicted Nov. 13 of second-degree murder for the 29-year-old woman’s killing.
The woman’s decomposing body — which was nude from the waist down — was found stuffed into a space between the supports under the bed frame after a guest at the Curve Motel complained April 5, 1993, about an odor in the room, according to court papers filed by Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee.
The motive for the attack was unknown, the prosecutor said.
The victim’s husband told investigators that he had last seen his wife on April 1, 1993, when he dropped her off about two blocks from the motel, according to the court papers.
DNA testing linked Winston to evidence recovered during an examination of the victim, according to the filing.
When he was initially questioned by detectives, he denied knowing Navarro and then claimed in a subsequent interview that the victim allowed him to have sex with her and that he left the room and heard later about her death, according to the prosecutor’s filing.
Winston — who has a 1995 conviction for criminal threats — was arrested last December by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in connection with the slaying. He has remained behind bars since then.