Police investigate Navy SEAL for death of UCLA employee
By Catherine Liberty Feliciano
June 25, 2016 1:20 p.m.
A UCLA employee died in Santa Monica June 12 after an unknown man attacked him the day before.
Kris Anderson, a 57-year-old UCLA Extension employee, who worked at the school for about 35 years, sustained several blows and a stab wound to his face June 11, according to the coroner’s report.
Police arrested Theo Krah, a 28-year-old Navy SEAL, in San Diego June 12 in connection with Anderson’s death. Krah is being held at the Santa Monica jail under a $2 million bail. A judge denied his request to reduce the bail last Monday because of state laws mandating the minimum, and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 13.
Krah’s attorney, Anthony Salerno, said he is working to determine where Krah was at the approximate time Anderson was attacked, but it has been difficult to confirm because Krah’s cellphone was out of battery at the time and cannot be used to track his location.
Anderson was found unconscious about five blocks away from Santa Monica Pier on June 11, about an hour after police separated him and Krah from a conflict on the pier, said Lieutenant Saul Rodriguez, a Santa Monica Police Department spokesperson. Anderson was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died the next day, he added.
Salerno said police seized evidence from Krah’s car, including clothing and knives, which are being investigated. Rodriguez said police pursued Krah because of his altercation with Anderson, as well as other evidence that cannot be disclosed during the pending investigation.
Officers answered calls from people on the Santa Monica pier reporting a conflict between Krah and Anderson on June 11. Salerno said Krah was on the pier when he saw Anderson taking pictures of young women. Krah confronted Anderson and restrained him until police arrived because he thought the images should be investigated, he added.
Police did not record any wrongdoing on Anderson’s part after they were called to the scene, but asked him to delete the photos without investigating them further, Salerno said.
Salerno said he thinks the prosecution’s case lacks direct evidence implicating Krah in Anderson’s death.
Some people have used the hashtag #IStandWithTheoKrah to protest his arrest, arguing there is not enough evidence to make him a likely suspect. Salerno said he has received more than 30 letters from supporters and that several people testified in defense of Krah’s character at his bail hearing.
A judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to try Krah’s case at a preliminary hearing July 13.
Email Feliciano at [email protected] or tweet @fromliberty.
