A Hermosa Beach man accused of shooting his girlfriend to death had aimed a gun at her head once before, said a friend of the slain woman.
“It was around April, she called me up and she was really upset,” said the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “She said ‘You can’t tell anybody, not even your boyfriend.’ She said he put a gun to her head [and said] ‘It’s your head or your leg.’”
Police and prosecutors say David Brian Abbott, 33, killed Samantha Ann Sproson, 38, his girlfriend and neighbor, with a single gunshot wound to the head shortly after 5 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.
Abbott’s attorney, George Bird, a bar-certified criminal law specialist with an impressive resume, said he had not heard of the “hearsay” allegation of a previous shooting threat.
“I am unaware of such a statement being made, and I am unaware that any such incident occurred,” he said.
Bird said Abbott, who has worked for at least 14 years with a company owned by his uncle, appears to be “a hard working man who never hurt anyone in his life.”
On the morning of Sproson’s death, neighbors in the Seahorse Apartments on Manhattan Avenue heard a woman scream, “Don’t shoot,” followed by the sound of a pop, and then silence. Hermosa police arrived within a minute of being called, and arrested Abbott, who was standing in front of the modest apartment complex.
Abbott has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, and bail has been set at $2 million, in the first Hermosa homicide case in eight years.
A troubled time
Sproson’s friend described Sproson, who worked as a small business advisor at El Camino College, as giving, open-hearted and charismatic, with beautiful blue eyes, a loud laugh and a boisterous personality.
The friend described a troubled relationship in which Abbott mistreated Sproson, who was “obsessed” with him and went out of her way to take care of him.
She said Sproson and Abbott, who were together about 18 months, argued frequently. She said she witnessed an argument escalating to physical contact.
“More like a wrestling match – he had her in a choke hold, he pushed her, she pushed him,” the friend said. “You’re going to defend yourself. If someone pushes you, you usually push back.”
The arguments sometimes began when “he wanted his space and she wouldn’t leave,” the friend said. “She wasn’t rational either,” she added.
Sproson was devoted to Abbott, cleaning and cooking for him, and buying him groceries and other necessities, the friend said.
“She took care of him — she wanted to do that all the time,” the friend said. “I was just thinking, maybe she was a little obsessed with him. She always cared about him. If she was out she would bring him food, or make sure he ate, or make sure he had beer.”
The friend said Abbott’s nickname among some friends was “Drunk Dave.” She said Sproson drank whiskey and beer “like the boys.”
The friend said she tried repeatedly to convince Sproson to break up with Abbott, and she is one of three friends who said they began shying away from Sproson when she was with her boyfriend.
A true heart
The friend said Sproson’s death hasn’t sunk in completely. She said she misses bar hopping, bike riding and going to the beach with her friend.
“Samantha was loud, happy – she had the most beautiful pair of blue eyes I had ever seen. She had a laugh you could hear around the corner. She was a giving person. She did not judge people, she accepted them as they were,” the friend said.
“She was sensitive. Sometimes girls fight, argue. She would be the first one in tears,” she said.
“There was something about her,” the friend said. “She had that true heart. Not a lot of people can say that.”
Bird, Abbott’s attorney, said he was awaiting evidence from prosecutors that would help determine what occurred on the morning of Sproson’s death.
The evidence will include gunshot residue tests, forensics reports on matters such as “the path of travel of the bullet, the proximity from the weapon to the victim,” and toxicology tests on Abbott and Sproson. Such tests reveal medications or intoxicants in the body.
“The case is a tragedy for everyone involved, Samantha’s family, as well as David’s family. The loss of life, at the hands of another, is a tragedy,” Bird said. “We feel for the victim, the victim’s family, and everyone who’s connected to the case.”
Bird, whose office is inTorrance, provides legal commentary for numerous TV networks and channels on high-profile criminal cases such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s physician.
Bird has represented numerous white collar defendants, won acquittal for a man accused of raping an unconscious person in a Hermosa case, and represented former Clippers basketball player Michael Olowokandi, who was accused of domestic abuse but was not charged by prosecutors.
A woman answering the phone at Abbott’s uncle’s business said he declined to be interviewed.
