A former United States Navy SEAL has been convicted in the 2016 killing of a man in Santa Monica.
Santa Monica police arrested Theo Krah, 34, in June 2016 on suspicion of stabbing and beating a man who he had previously gotten into an altercation with.
The victim was found severely injured on the sidewalk in the 1400 block of 5th Street suffering from “severe trauma to the face and head,” Santa Monica police said. The man, who authorities later identified as Kris Anderson from Santa Monica, was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Krah, 28 at the time, was identified as the suspect after police officers responded to the Santa Monica Pier to break up a verbal and physical altercation between the two. Just an hour after police separated the two men, Anderson was found by police suffering from serious injuries.
The two men did not know each other at the time, police said, and Krah’s lawyers argued that their client was trying to stop Anderson from taking inappropriate photos with his camera. Still, police intervened in the argument, decided not to arrest either man and sent them on their way.
As part of the investigation, detectives obtained surveillance footage which showed Krah as he followed Anderson from the Santa Monica Pier to the city’s downtown where he violently assaulted him.
Krah, who was an active Navy SEAL at the time, was arrested two days later in the San Diego area. He was booked into jail and has remained in custody ever since.
Krah was charged with one count of second-degree murder in Anderson’s death, and on Friday, July 8, a jury found him guilty.
He is due back in court on Aug. 1 and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison.