Man gets life in prison for brutal murder of Faria Beach couple

Saturday, February 7, 2015
Man gets life in prison for brutal murder of Faria Beach couple
A man who pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of a Faria Beach couple and their unborn child was sentenced on Friday to three consecutive life sentences.

VENTURA, Calif. (KABC) -- A man who pleaded guilty to the brutal murders of a Faria Beach couple and their unborn child was sentenced on Friday to three consecutive life sentences.

For nearly six years, the Husted family has waited for the day 25-year-old Joshua Packer would be sent to prison with no chance for parole.

A Superior Court judge who sentenced Packer called him "the worst of the worst."

Packer entered a Faria Beach home on May 20, 2009, wearing a motorcycle helmet. What began as a burglary ended with Packer killing Brock, Davina and their unborn baby. Prosecutors say Packer also sexually assaulted Davina Husted.

"He became sexually stimulated while killing people, covered in their blood," said prosecutor Mike Frawley. "It's difficult to get one's mind around it."

The Husteds were each stabbed more than 20 times.

Before the killings, their 9-year-old son had run to get money from his mother's purse to appease the robber, authorities said. Afterward, he woke his sister, and they fled through a bedroom window to a neighbor's home.

"Joshua Packer has stolen so much from me and my family. He has caused me tremendous pain," said 16-year-old Isabella Husted in court. She was 11 at the time of the horrific crime.

"I never believed there was evil in this world" until that night, she said, "but my mother taught me well. She taught me though there is evil in the world, there is also love."

Prosecutors agreed to no longer seek the death penalty after Packer pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in December.

Packer chose not to address the court because that would take away from the family's statement, according to his public defender.

"To kill someone is one thing, but to kill a precious, innocent unborn baby that hasn't even taken its first breath is vicious, and in my eyes, you are a monster," said Vincent DuBoni, brother of Davina Husted.

Packer was linked to the killings in 2010 by DNA testing of a sample taken following his arrest on suspicion of robbing a gas station in Santa Barbara County. The sample matched DNA found on the visor of the motorcycle helmet used by the killer, prosecutors said.

The defense had argued that Packer was physically and sexually abused as a child.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.