Free Republic

They say he smiled at his arraignment, didn't seem to care -- The family of a San Leandro woman allegedly beaten to death by an Oakland roofer reacted in disgust Tuesday after the defendant grinned and appeared to beckon a woman sitting in the gallery during a court appearance. Earl Stefanson, 41, was in Alameda County Superior Court after being charged with murdering Leslie Lamb, 36, who police said was his girlfriend. Judge Trina Thompson Stanley ordered Stefanson to return to court Oct. 19 to enter a plea. "He's smiling, and my daughter is sitting in a cemetery," Ann Lamb...

OAKLAND — Murder charges were filed Thursday against an Oakland man suspected of turning his basement into a torture chamber reminiscent of the movie "Silence of the Lambs" and brutally killing his girlfriend there. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office charged Earl Stefanson, 41, with murder and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon in connection with the murder of 36-year-old Leslie Lamb of San Leandro. Stefanson was convicted of manufacturing drugs a decade ago and served prison time, police said. Stefanson, a roofer, was arrested Tuesday night after a chase through Oakland and Hayward. He remains jailed without bail...

Woman tells of living in fear with son of ex-leader of Oakland Hells Angels until meth charge sent her and husband to prison - A former wife of an Oakland roofer accused of beating a woman to death said Thursday that she had lived in fear of her husband and endured "major abuse'' during their relationship a decade ago. She said the abuse stopped only after she and her husband, Earl Stefanson, were arrested for running a methamphetamine lab in Butte County. "I was forced to be there. I was afraid to leave,'' said the woman, who has since remarried...