Updated: Tombleson Guilty of Manslaughter in Stabbing Deaths

Updated with quotes from both attorneys and additional information.

A 30-year-old Lake Forest man was convicted Thursday of voluntary manslaughter for stabbing two men during a fight.

Justin Alvin Masao Tombleson had been charged with two counts of murder for the June 11, 2011, stabbing deaths outside a restaurant in Lake Forest, but jurors opted to convict him instead of two counts of the lesser charge. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for use of a deadly weapon.

The jury originally deliberated for about a day, but had to begin again when one member of the panel had to be replaced following a car accident. The new jury deliberated for about two full days.

Tombleson faces up to 34 years in prison at his July 12 sentencing. The sentence would ordinarily be about 15 years, but that would be more than doubled if prosecutors prove during a June 7 hearing that Tombleson has a prior conviction for battery resulting in serious injury, Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy said.

The prosecutor argued for first-degree murder, but said he was still pleased with the conviction. "The jury rejected the justified self defense and found the killing was unlawful, and it was a senseless, needless crime," he said.

Defense attorney Keith Bruno said he was "disappointed" with the verdict, but understood.

"I had objected to the court giving the jury the lesser-included offense for this reason," Bruno said. "In my view, this was either murder or self-defense. Any jury is far more apt to convict someone, rather than acquit on self-defense, if they are given four different lesser offenses with which to convict. In any event, the jury worked very hard and arrived at the verdict they felt justified. I don't quarrel with that."

Attorneys on both sides agreed that Tombleson fatally stabbed the Mission Viejo men, but they disagreed today on whether it was self-defense or murder.

Hossain Saidian, 32, and Elvis Kechechian, 26, were stabbed outside Albatros, a 24-hour Mexican restaurant in a strip mall at 23591 Rockfield Blvd.

Kechechian, who had a personal trainer business in Ladera Ranch, was the conditioning coach for the Santa Margarita Catholic ice hockey team which went on to win a state title in 2012 and national title in 2013.

This was not Tombleson's first run-in with the law. He had previously pleaded guilty to battery with serious bodily injury from an incident in June 2004. For a separate incident that occurred three months later, he had a battery charged dismissed while pleading guilty to assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury. In the latter charge, the weapon was a knife. Tombleson, after spending a year in jail, was sentenced in 2007 to two years in state prison.

McGreevy said Albatros was a "very popular spot" because it was always open, and the night of the killings it was busy. Investigators questioned more than 60 witnesses to the event.

Saidian, Kechechian and his brother, Aris Kechechian, and another friend went bowling and to a club in Anaheim the evening of the deadly stabbing to celebrate the Saidian's birthday.

The group had been drinking that night. Aris Kechechian, who was driving, was nearly above the legal limit when he was tested for alcohol after the fatal brawl, according to the prosecutor. 

Meanwhile, Tombleson, his girlfriend and other friends went drinking and dancing at a bar in the Foothill Ranch area, McGreevy said. The women in the group left the bar first and headed to Albatros about the same time as the victims and their group.

Tombleson's girlfriend, Erica Cardenalli, was waiting in line at the crowded restaurant talking on her cell phone when Elvis Kechechian tried to strike up a conversation, McGreevy said.

"Elvis thinks Erica is ignoring him so he does not like that. He starts calling her names," McGreevy said.

When Aris Kechechian emerged from the bathroom, he saw his brother arguing with Cardenalli and her girlfriends, McGreevy said: "He makes the very bad decision to join this argument."

Aris Kechechian spit on Cardenalli, which got the attention of male patrons, and soon a massive brawl broke out, prompting restaurant employees to kick everyone out, McGreevy said.

Cardenalli urged her boyfriend to meet her at the restaurant, the prosecutor said. When Tombleson and his friends arrived at the restaurant, the defendant ran ahead and asked his girlfriend what happened.

She pointed to the Kechechian brothers, and the defendant ran over to them, asking, "Which (expletive) spit at my girl?" the prosecutor said.

Several witnesses told investigators they saw Tombleson "swing first ... and the fight is on," McGreevy explained.

Tombleson was soon on the ground getting pummeled before his friends joined the fray, McGreevy said.

Witnesses said they saw the defendant look in his pocket for something and then started waving an object that appeared to be a knife in a "circular motion" at the victims, McGreevy said.

Sheriff's deputies were called just after 2 a.m. Elvis Kechechian was pronounced dead about an hour later and Saidian underwent surgery, but doctors determined he was brain dead, and he was pronounced dead nearly a week later.

Elvis Kechechian sustained one stab wound that punctured his aorta and "eviscerated" his intestines, resulting in internal bleeding, McGreevy said, while Saidian was stabbed multiple times, in the chest and arm.

Investigators later found the knife near the restaurant, and it had DNA evidence of the victims and defendant on it, McGreevy said.

Bruno, the defense attorney, said the case was "about the valid use of self-defense that resulted in tragic consequences for both." Bruno alleged the Kechechian brothers "violently assaulted" patrons in the restaurant, and noted that when their group arrived at Albatros, they parked in a spot for disabled drivers.

"When Aris Kechechian pulled up to that handicapped spot, he was saying, 'I don't give a (expletive) about consequences,"' Bruno said.

The defense attorney said the brothers took off their shirts after they were kicked out of the restaurant and were walking to their car: "What does that say? They're challenging anyone and everyone to a fight."

The defendant was trying to talk to the brothers, who responded with their fists, Bruno said.

As Bruno explained it, Tombleson was being "stomped" so he reached for a "work" knife to defend himself.

One witness told investigators "the stabbing stopped the fighting," Bruno said, which is the "essence of self-defense."

—City News Service