Prosecutor: Senior driven by ‘sadistic’ impulses in killing his host in Palm Springs
BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) - An 82-year-old man accused of bludgeoning a senior who had invited him to stay at her and her husband's Palm Springs home may have attacked her during an argument over something as incidental as a television program, fatally beating her with a barstool, a prosecutor said today.
Stephen Roy McKernan allegedly killed 75-year-old Claire Carsman in 2019.
During his closing statement Thursday, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Steven Sorensen acknowledged, "We don't know why Mr. McKernan did it."
But the prosecutor said testimony in the two-week trial had revealed there were political differences between the defendant and victim -- she a Democrat, he a Republican.
"She was watching one of her TV shows, and they bickered,'' Sorensen said. "He had a sadistic reason.''
McKernan is charged with first-degree murder and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, inflicting great bodily injury and being in possession of a firearm during a felony.
The prosecution rested Tuesday, and McKernan's attorney called witnesses Wednesday before concluding his case at the Banning Justice Center.
Due to the length of the prosecution's closing argument Thursday, the defense did not get a chance to make a final argument, prompting Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz to direct jurors to return to the courthouse for the defense's presentation Friday morning.
McKernan is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.
According to testimony, the defendant had known Carsman and her husband, whose identity was not disclosed, for years, and the couple invited him to stay with them in April 2019.
In the early afternoon of April 22, the victim's spouse headed to an area casino to gamble, as was his habit, leaving his wife and McKernan alone at the single-story residence at 360 W. Pico Road, near Zanjero Road.
Sorensen said nothing was amiss until 5:53 p.m., when the man received a rapid succession of four calls from McKernan in under 10 minutes, all of which he missed.
One of the voicemail messages was replayed for the jury, during which McKernan was heard saying, "It's a nightmare you've never been in your life. I need you to stay away so you're not in any danger. We got attacked. We need your attorney. Jesus Christ."
McKernan then called 911, telling the dispatcher, "We had a break-in. I think someone is dead." Carsman's husband and the police arrived to find a grisly scene.
"She was bludgeoned,'' Sorensen said, adding that blood spatter covering the defendant's clothes indicated he ``had to hold the barstool facing Mrs. Carsman.''
McKernan was taken into custody without incident.
He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
