Jury convicts man in friend’s stabbing death
A 46-year-old man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in November was convicted of second-degree murder Friday night in District Court.
The jury convicted Brian O’Keefe of killing 54-year-old Victoria Whitmarsh at the Casa Salvatore Apartments near Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard.
The jury deliberated for about 21/2 hours.
O’Keefe took the stand Friday morning and testified that he was drunk on the night of the slaying. He said he had argued with Whitmarsh while they were at a casino and she later attacked him with a knife when they returned home.
Through sobs, O’Keefe told the jury that he and Whitmarsh struggled inside the apartment’s bedroom and then they fell onto a bed. O’Keefe fell onto her and realized she had been stabbed in the chest.
“It happened so fast,” he said.