Stephen William Beal, 64, killed Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, and severely injured two other women by bombing Krajnyak’s day spa, Magyar Kozmetika, in Aliso Viejo, California., on May 15, 2018. (Mugshot: FBI Los Angeles; image of the day spa: Raul Hernandez via AP, File)
A federal jury convicted a 64-year-old man on Wednesday of a shocking bombing that killed his ex-girlfriend when she opened a booby-trapped package that also wounded two others and destroyed her suburban Southern California day spa in a cowardly attack.
Stephen William Beal was convicted of killing Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, on May 15, 2018.
Beal was convicted on charges of use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, malicious destruction of a building resulting in death, use of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, and possession of an unregistered destructive device, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities said that Beal and Krajnyak dated for 18 months. They were even business partners, according to CBSLA and the Associated Press.
But according to the DOJ, Krajnyak’s family and associates testified to Beal being controlling and possessive. Some said they feared for her safety.
The relationship ended. Krajnyak wanted distance. Beal became obsessed, following her online schedule and social media accounts.
Beal had a key to Krajnyak’s Magyar Kozmetika day spa in the Orange County city of Aliso Viejo. Security camera footage and cellphone data showed he visited it multiple times while she was out of the country before the bombing. He left the package bomb for Krajnyak to open when she returned, prosecutors said. He used his knowledge of building model rockets and homemade pyrotechnics to build the explosive.
The explosion also badly injured a mother and daughter visiting the spa that day. One of them said Krasjnyak was standing behind a desk, opening a cardboard box immediately before the massive explosion, according to the DOJ’s press release.
The survivor pulled her mother from the rubble, and they escaped out of the burning building through a blown-out wall.
“We are gratified that the jury’s verdict led to justice for Ildiko Krajnyak and Beal’s two surviving victims, who will endure the horror and pain of that awful day for the rest of their lives,” said Donald Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
Investigators executed a search warrant at Beal’s home the day after the bombing. Electric matches and wires found at the residence were the same unique type as the wires used in the bomb’s fusing system and now embedded in the ceiling above the blast site, authorities said. Also embedded in the ceiling was a 9-volt battery that prosecutors said Beal purchased six days before the bombing.
He bought three cardboard boxes matching the size and shape of the box that the surviving victim testified Krajnyak opened, prosecutors said. Chemicals in the bomb matched those found at his home.
“Using his expertise in explosives, Mr. Beal cowardly murdered his former girlfriend, permanently injured two other victims who were her customers, and risked the safety of many others in the area, including a day-care center across the street,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada of the Central District of California. “Thanks to the thorough investigation by the FBI, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Orange County Fire Department, and other law enforcement partners, I am pleased the jury saw through Mr. Beal’s efforts to avoid responsibility for his deplorable actions.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 17. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years behind bars.
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That’s not the last of his legal problems. Federal trial begins on Nov. 14 in his fraud case for allegedly failing to report in a bankruptcy proceeding that he got $350,000 from his late wife’s estate.
Beal’s late wife, Christine Beal, 48, died mysteriously after she fell downstairs at home on May 8, 2008, when the heavy bureau she and her husband had been carrying landed on her pelvic and hip area, according to CBS News and Associated Press.
Los Angeles coroner’s records show that Christine Beal died of pancreatitis, electrolyte imbalance, and “other determined factors.” Officials also noted chronic lead intoxication as a significant condition. The manner of death was deemed undetermined. The coroner’s office said it was not clear if she died from trauma but said there were no signs of foul play.
Investigators also found an obscene amount of lead in her blood. Reportedly, it was 24 times the level set by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and 100 times greater than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s average for adults in the United States.
Stephen Beal was “uncooperative, not wanting to ‘reveal’ information to the hospital staff about” his wife, according to the autopsy report obtained by the AP.
He successfully sued an insurance company that, when denying his claim, said Christine Beal’s death was not an accident.
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