LOS ANGELES – A man charged with an allegation that he was responsible for an explosion at a spa in Southern California that killed a former girlfriend and injured two others when she opened an explosive-rigged box has begun trial.
Stephen Beal, 63, appeared in Los Angeles federal court Thursday to face charges on May 15, 2018, following the death of 48-year-old Ildiko Krajnyak, Southern California News Group reported.
“This is a case of infatuation, obsession and control,” U.S. Attorney Annamartine Salick said in an opening statement. “When Ildiko denied his infatuation and began conversing with another man, the defendant realized that he could not control her.”
Salick said Beal had “created a plan to destroy it.”
The explosion occurred at the Krajnyak Spa, Magyar Kozmetika, in Aliso Viejo. Two clients were injured, and the building was destroyed. Body parts were found outside.
Beal pleaded not guilty to the use of weapons of mass destruction, the malicious destruction of dying buildings, and the use of destructive devices during and in connection with a crime of violence.
Defense attorney Craig Harbaugh confirmed that the FBI was desperate to find the person responsible and made a hasty judgment, targeting Beal and ignoring evidence and other suspects.
“They started with a conclusion and worked their way back,” Harbaugh said.
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