| For Immediate Release Case # 10CF2387 December 10, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486
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MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING, DECAPITATING AND DISMEMBERING WIFE OF 39 YEARS
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted today of murdering his wife of 39 years and then decapitating and dismembering her after an argument in their Rancho Santa Margarita home. Richard Gustav Forsberg, 63, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of second degree murder and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison at his sentencing Feb. 1, 2013, in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On Feb. 9, 2010, the defendant got into a verbal argument with his wife Marcia Ann Forsberg. Forsberg grabbed a small statue and hit the victim multiple times in the head, murdering her. He kept her body in their home and decapitated and dismembered her body over the next few days.
The defendant rented a recreational vehicle (RV) and bought two new freezers. He put the victim’s dismembered body in the freezers and used the RV to drive the freezers to a campground at Lake Piru Recreation Area in Ventura County. He disposed of the victim by burning the dismembered parts of her body.
When questioned by friends about the whereabouts of his wife, Forsberg claimed that they were having marital problems and that she had left town to be on her own. On Aug. 24, 2010, concerned friends of the victim reported her missing. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) investigated this case.
During the course of the investigation, Forsberg lied to OCSD investigators about his wife’s whereabouts. When the defendant realized that he would be caught lying, he sent a letter to detectives stating that he killed his wife while in a rage after their argument. Forsberg was arrested at the hospital after attempting suicide.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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