text: Alhambra man convicted of manslaughter in 2007 "kitty-litter" slaying - The Daily Breeze
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  06/08/2012 11:49:45 PM PDTJune 9, 2012 6:53 AM GMTUpdated:
  06/08/2012 11:52:26 PM PDT
  ALHAMBRA - A jury convicted an Alhambra man Friday of voluntary manslaughter for killing his girlfriend and stuffing her body in a trash can full of kitty litter in a friend's Arcadia backyard in 2007. Isaac Campbell, 37, was charged with murder in the Aug. 12, 2007 slaying of his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, 31, of San Gabriel. But after less than two days of deliberation, the Alhambra Superior Court jury found him guilty of the lesser charge. Campbell was also convicted of charges related to marijuana possession and sales. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 13 in Alhambra Superior Court. Campbell's attorney James Duffy said his client faces 13 years in prison, but has credit for five years served. Duffy said he was "very happy" with the outcome of the trial, which he said is what he expected would happen. "I think it was a fair resolution," Duffy said. "It was never a murder case, he just did so many terrible things afterward." About a month after she was reported missing, a friend of Campbell's discovered Lu's partially mummified body wrapped in plastic trash bags and covered with kitty litter inside a trash can Campbell had stored at the friend's Arcadia home, according to testimony. The friend called authorities. Officials found and arrested Campbell in Minnesota a month after the grisly discovery. A jury was unable to reach a verdict in Campbell's first murder trial last year. They hung Advertisement10-2 in favor of convicting him. Campbell did not testify in his second trial, though he did take the stand in the first one. Duffy and Prosecutor Steven Ipson agreed that the jury's verdict characterized the killing as "done in the heat of passion," based on evidence from new witness Nikki Kazadi, who testified that she heard a loud argument in Campbell's apartment on the night of Lu's death. In both trials, the prosecution argued that Campbell killed Lu at his Granada Avenue apartment in Alhambra. After keeping her body in his apartment for four days, he placed it in the trash can and stored it at his friend's house in the 1700 block of South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia. The defense, however, maintained that Campbell had merely discovered Lu dead, panicked and handled the situation badly. Due to the condition of Lu's body when found, coroner's investigators were not able to determine a cause of death. Ipson said he was "fine" with the verdict, considering the obstacles in the case. "I hope people can get some resolution," Ipson said. "Liya's family can get some resolution ... and Cambpell can get some resolution." Campbell and Lu met while both were nursing students at Pasadena City College. Campbell has remained jailed in lieu of $1.275 million bail since his arrest more than four years ago. lauren.gold@sgvn.com 626-962-8811, ext. 4586 brian.day@sgvn.com 626-962-8811, ext. 2109Copyright 2012 Pasadena Star-News. All rights reserved.Return to Top • Readers: Let us know what you think of our commenting system