Example of a knife, not the one in story. Photo via Pixabay
A Long Beach man who stabbed his former roommate to death during an argument was sentenced Monday to 26 years to life in prison.
Norman Perdon, 26, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing 38- year-old Allen Estes on July 4, 2015. Estes’ body was found on a sidewalk near the intersection of East Anaheim Street and Dawson Avenue around 5:30 a.m. on that Fourth of July holiday.
Deputy District Attorney Tapti Patel told jurors that Perdon stabbed Estes in the back and the chest and then dragged his body from the intersection to a nearby retail driveway, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Tips from the public led detectives to Perdon, who was arrested six days after the killing. Police said the two men had an ongoing dispute stemming from their time as roommates.
Defense attorney Michael Ferranto told jurors that Perdon’s girlfriend moved into the apartment and had called police in the weeks before the killing to allege that Perdon had punched her in the face and later sexually assaulted her, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
On the day of the killing, she told Perdon that Estes had sexually assaulted her the day before, according to Ferranto.
The defense attorney said Perdon spent his preschool years in abusive foster homes, with one foster parent boiling the boy’s hand as punishment, the newspaper reported. Ferranto said the Long Beach apartment Perdon shared with Estes was the first time the defendant had lived on his own without supervision.
–City News Service
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