GUILTY NV - Kristyanna Cowan, 3, slain, sister paralyzed, Mesquite, 22 Jan 2003

[mysteriew]

A man charged with brutally stabbing two little girls in a trailer while their parents were out gambling entered a surprise guilty plea Friday.

Beau Maestas, 21, pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted murder and murder in the January 2003 attack. Prosecutors agree to drop a fourth charge of conspiracy.

Maestas had been scheduled for trial Tuesday with his 19-year-old sister, Monique. Because of Maestas' guilty plea, his sister's trial was delayed. A new date was not immediately scheduled.

Brittney Bergeron, who was 10 at the time, and her 3-year-old half-sister, Kristyanna Cowan, were attacked inside their family's trailer at the RV Park in Mesquite, a small gambling town about 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Stabbed 20 times, Brittney, now 13, was left paralyzed from the waist down. Kristyanna was killed.

Brittney has been living in foster care and the state is seeking to terminate her mother's parental rights. Her father, who lives in California, has not contested the state's petition.

The Schmidts are facing criminal charges of child abuse and neglect. Both have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is scheduled for July.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...spect_pleads_guilty/?rss_id=Boston.com+/+News

 

[mysteriew]

Accused child killer Beau Maestas pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Friday in a plea that does not spare him from a possible death sentence.

In the courtroom of District Judge Donald Mosley, Maestas politely acknowledged using butcher knives to savage two children, Kristyanna Cowan, 3, and Brittney Bergeron, now 13, at the CasaBlanca RV park in Mesquite in January 2003.

"Did you in fact kill the younger girl?" Judge Mosley asked the defendant.

"Yes, sir," Maestas said.

"You attempted to kill her, the older girl?" Mosley asked in reference to Brittney, who is now paralyzed.

"Yes, sir," the 21-year-old said.

"You understand there is still the possibility of a death sentence?" the judge asked.

"Yes," Maestas said.

Maestas defense attorney Pete Christiansen said his client pleaded guilty simply because he wanted to admit to the crime.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/May-28-Sat-2005/news/26616663.html

 

[mysteriew]

Today, prosecutors will begin their pursuit of a death sentence for Beau Maestas, who pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder.

But legal experts said last week that despite the heinous nature of the case, a death sentence is no guarantee.

Maestas' defense attorneys, Pete Christiansen and Thomas Ericsson, plan to present a litany of facts showing both Maestas siblings endured a truly terrible childhood.

Specifically, their father, Harry Maestas, is a twice-convicted killer who has spent much of the past three decades in prison while his children were growing up.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/May-31-Tue-2005/news/26616859.html

 

[1986]

Okay, here's my thought on the "I had a bad childhood" defense...a bad childhood should not equal one more.

At least this guy is being honest and pleading quilty. Shows me that he does have some bit of good in him.

 

[mysteriew]

Moments later, a woman who authorities say was Beau Maestas' sister, Monique, knocked on the door and pleaded with the child to let her in.

"Your mom has been hurt really bad," Monique Maestas told the child. "You need to come with me."

As he bore down on 10-year-old Brittney Bergeron with a huge knife in a darkened trailer, Beau Maestas grabbed the child from behind and told her, "We can do this easy or we can do this hard," a detective said in court Thursday.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jun-03-Fri-2005/news/26656204.html

 

[SewingDeb]

Moments later, a woman who authorities say was Beau Maestas' sister, Monique, knocked on the door and pleaded with the child to let her in.

"Your mom has been hurt really bad," Monique Maestas told the child. "You need to come with me."

As he bore down on 10-year-old Brittney Bergeron with a huge knife in a darkened trailer, Beau Maestas grabbed the child from behind and told her, "We can do this easy or we can do this hard," a detective said in court Thursday.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jun-03-Fri-2005/news/26656204.html

OMG. For $200 owed to them, they do this to innocent children?

 

[mysteriew]

Beau Maestas apologized in court Monday for stabbing a toddler to death and paralyzing her sister, saying "I'm sorry for the heartache."

The child killer, in his first public words since the 2003 attack, also referred to his two victims, Brittney Bergeron, 10, and Kristyanna Cowan, 3, in what proved to be a mostly inaudible apology.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jun-07-Tue-2005/news/26679979.html

 

[curious1]

Maestas' defense attorneys, Pete Christiansen and Thomas Ericsson, plan to present a litany of facts showing both Maestas siblings endured a truly terrible childhood.

Specifically, their father, Harry Maestas, is a twice-convicted killer who has spent much of the past three decades in prison while his children were growing up.http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/May-31-Tue-2005/news/26616859.html

Ohhh, well that explains everything. I am sure he did not know that going into that trailer carrying a knife and attacking 2 defenseless little girls was wrong. I mean his father committed murder and was sent to prison for it, but how does that give a clear message that it was wrong? Oh and he apologized so that makes everything okay.

OH GIVE ME A BREAK! :furious: So he apologized who gives a $hit, that does not bring back the little one or give her sister the ability to walk. I hope they show no mercy for this scum bag, just because he said 'I'm sorry' and they need to throw the book at his sister too.:furious: :furious:

 

[mysteriew]

Jurors in the Beau Maestas trial said they were deadlocked Wednesday on whether to sentence the child killer to death, but a judge ordered them to continue deliberating.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jun-09-Thu-2005/news/26691403.html

 

[mysteriew]

A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked on whether a 21-year-old Utah man should be sentenced to death for a brutal knife attack that left a little girl dead and her older sister paralyzed.

Judge Donald Mosley set a July 7 hearing at which he could under state law sentence Beau Maestas to life in prison or empanel another jury to decide Maestas' fate.

Jurors were deadocked 10-2 in favor of the death penalty, said Maestas' lawyer, Pete Christiansen. Of the jurors who held out for life in prison, Christiansen said, "God bless them."

http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=211099

 

[CaliKid]

I'd have no problem sentencing this man to death.

 

[sassy_texasbelle2]

This will break your heart how people neglect their children, and how drugs will totally destroy a family:furious:

http://newscenter.ninn.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11333&mode=&order=0&thold=0

 

[Amraann]

this is horrific!


And that judge who said the mother should get her back should be disbarred!

WTF??
I don't really care if the mother got it together...
You should get one chance and if you screw up that bad then no more.

 

[sassy_texasbelle2]

this is horrific!


And that judge who said the mother should get her back should be disbarred!

WTF??
I don't really care if the mother got it together...
You should get one chance and if you screw up that bad then no more.

LOL thank you. You see Jovin and Cass and you realize what a computer novice you really are. And YES this mother blew her rights when she made the decision of Meth over her kids. These bleeding heart judges need their heads examined. To bad it is not the mother sitting in a wheelchair or 6 feet under, and two little girls are being just that little girls playing and enjoying their life.

 

[Mabel]

The hotel/casino where the girl's mother was gambling the night Britteny and her sister were attacked has agreed to pay $5.5 million for Brittney's care. I'm sure that has nothing to do with why the mom is fighting so hard to get her back. :furious:

Unless the prosecution is successful in their appeal, Britteny will return to live with her mother within the next 6 months. I can't understand why the judge offered her the opportunity to state where she would like to stay only to tell her she couldn't stay there. Poor little girl has already been through so much. Shame on that a$$hole judge.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I'm sickened beyond belief. I hope the so-called "mother" of this little girl relapses into a haze of drugs and is found incompetent to get this little girl back. I thank God for her foster parents.

 

[RPPaolin]

is the most unbelievable story I have ever read! My heart pains for her.

 

[Sheromom]

This is the saddest story I have ever read. I just do NOT understand why CPS always try to put kids back into the family that has already abused them.

 

[duffy]

Dear God! A hung jury? And we thought California jurors were hopeless. What else did they need for the death penalty?

What a brave little girl and such fortitude! She tells the officer as she lay there, life bleeding out of her "I don't want to die". Man! Even though this story is so sad, the little girl is such a bright light in this ever so dark story.

Yeah, I bet the 5.5 mill did nothing for the mom. Even if she cleaned up and got a job she shows no moral conscience whatsoever in trying to get the child back when she knows the child doesn't want to live with her.

Anyone know how to write that judge?

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Link with photos:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/May-28-Sat-2005/news/26616663.html