On the day Frederick William Loftus would have celebrated his 62nd birthday, a jury convicted his elderly killer of crimes that could mean two life terms in state prison.

Kobak

This morning jurors in the David Alan Kobak trial returned verdicts of second-degree murder, with a penalty of 15 years to life; and also the special allegation of personally using a firearm to cause death or bodily injury. That allegation, California’s so-called “Use a Gun and You’re Done” law, could result in a second term of 25 years to life.

Jurors deliberated a little more than two days before reaching their verdict about 10 a.m. today.

“We deliberated, we were amicable, we followed the judge’s instructions and we came up with a decision,” one juror said after Judge Greg Elvine-Kreis excused the panel.

Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm, the trial prosecutor, said she was happy justice was served.

“Also,” Timm said, “it’s Fred’s birthday.”

Deputy Public Defender Casey Russo, representing the 77-year Kobak, declined comment this morning. Kobak is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 28.

Kobak, who was silent and dejected-looking throughout the two-week trial, did not visibly react to the verdicts. After the jury left the courtroom, the bailiff handcuffed Kobak. He was taken back to Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where he has been since Aug. 25, 2017, the day he shot his old friend Loftus eight times with a semiautomatic rifle.

Much of the testimony and argument in the trial involved Kobak’s state of mind when he killed Loftus. Both men had been drinking all day, with Kobak testing at a .16 blood alcohol level an hour after the shooting. Loftus’s blood alcohol level was at .17 when he died.

Kobak, interviewed by EPD Senior Detective Ron Harpham, said he shot Loftus during a quarrel that started while Kobak was cooking dinner in his apartment on Seventh Street. According to Kobak, Loftus hit him two or three times in the face and then said something so terrible Kobak wouldn’t repeat it.

Kobak had no injuries on his face.

At any rate, Kobak became angry enough to walk from the kitchen to his bedroom, where he kept a fully loaded rifle behind the bedroom door for protection. He fired 10 times, with eight bullets striking Loftus. Three of the bullets were fired into Loftus’s back.

During the trial Kobak took the stand in his own defense, saying he remembered neither the shooting nor the interview with Harpham.

Kobak and Loftus, both commercial fishermen, had been friends for 30 years. Loftus had been staying with Kobak for several weeks after injuring his hand while living in the Bay Area.

Under the law Judge Elvine-Kreis has the option of dismissing the firearms allegation, meaning Kobak would face one term of 15 years to life. He will be 78 in July.

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