Oakland Torture/Murder Trial, Ex-Girlfriend Testifies

03-04) 04:00 PST Oakland -- A former girlfriend of an Oakland roofer accused of torturing and killing a woman in a basement that police likened to "The Silence of the Lambs" testified at his trial Tuesday that he had assaulted her in the same home.

Kristen Nielsen said Earl Stefanson, 43, attacked her on four occasions in 2004 and 2005 in the same house where police believe he killed Leslie Lamb, 36, of San Leandro in August 2006. Police said Stefanson delivered a badly beaten Lamb to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where she died.

When police served a search warrant at his home on the 3400 block of Coolidge Avenue in Oakland's Dimond district, they found a basement chamber that homicide Sgt. Tony Jones said was reminiscent of "The Silence of the Lambs," the 1991 movie in which a psychopathic serial killer imprisons and skins his victims. The home was boarded up and covered with soundproofing material, authorities said.

While testifying in Oakland, Nielsen, 41, broke down crying several times and paused before describing what Stefanson allegedly did to her.

"I just want to get this over with," Nielsen said.

Another former girlfriend, Zeba Wahed, is to testify Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court about incidents in 2005 and 2006 in which Stefanson allegedly kicked her just after she had surgery, dropped on her head and locked her in a trailer for at least 17 hours.

Prosecutor Casey Bates hopes the testimony by Nielsen and Wahed will convince jurors that Stefanson had a pattern of abusive behavior toward women and was capable of killing. Stefanson is charged with 19 counts, including murder, torture and false imprisonment, in connection with incidents involving all three women.

In his opening statement Monday, Bates said Stefanson's attacks against the women were "prolonged, extreme, willful and sadistic," and showed the jury graphic autopsy photos of Lamb depicting bruises all over her body. According to the prosecutor, Lamb's blood was found in Stefanson's home, and his DNA was found in her mouth.

Nielsen testified that when she met Stefanson, she regarded him as a "big teddy bear." Before long, however, he became abusive, she said.

In October 2004, Stefanson threw a pocket knife at her from across a room after she asked why he had been gone several days, Nielsen said. The knife stuck in her left leg, and now she has no feeling there, she said.

In December 2004, Stefanson became enraged when she didn't greet him at the door, Nielsen said. He hit her in the jaw and kicked her in the stomach with steel-toed boots, which "took the wind out of me," she said.

Stefanson once complained that he didn't like her short hair, she said. " 'You want short? I'll show you short,' " she quoted him as saying before he took an electric razor to her scalp.

On her 38th birthday in February 2005, Stefanson "backhanded me in my mouth" as she was sleeping and told her to get herself an ice-cream cake, Nielsen said. She said she left him after that incident because "I needed to get out."

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Ted Berry, Nielsen said she hadn't left Stefanson earlier because she didn't have a safe place to stay and she was afraid he would go after her.

Police said Stefanson and Lamb, who was the mother of a 9-year-old boy, had been dating for several months before she was killed.

Lamb's parents and other family members, who have said they never heard of Stefanson until he brought her to the hospital, were in court Tuesday.

"We just want to see justice served," said her father, Bob Lamb. "She was just a sweet, loving mother. No one deserves anything like that."
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Oakland Torture/Murder Trial, Ex-Girlfriend Testifies
    ... accused of torturing and killing a woman in a basement that police likened ... Kristen Nielsen said Earl Stefanson, 43, attacked her on four occasions in ... Lamb, 36, of San Leandro in August 2006. ... While testifying in Oakland, Nielsen, 41, broke down crying several times ...
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  • Re: Oakland Torture/Murder Trial, Ex-Girlfriend Testifies
    ... accused of torturing and killing a woman in a basement that police likened ... Lamb, 36, of San Leandro in August 2006. ... chamber that homicide Sgt. Tony Jones said was reminiscent of "The Silence ... and paused before describing what Stefanson allegedly did to her. ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Re: Oakland Torture/Murder Trial, Ex-Girlfriend Testifies
    ... accused of torturing and killing a woman in a basement that police likened ... Lamb, 36, of San Leandro in August 2006. ... and paused before describing what Stefanson allegedly did to her. ... jury graphic autopsy photos of Lamb depicting bruises all over her body. ...
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  • Re: "Silence of Lambs" Torture Chamber Shocks Police
    ... Woman tells of living in fear with son of ex-leader of Oakland Hells ... Stefanson, 41, the son of an ex-president of the Hells Angels' Oakland ... mother who police said was his girlfriend. ... Investigators say Stefanson delivered a badly beaten Lamb, 36, to ...
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  • Re: Earl Stefanson: police report torture room in home
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