Scott Joseph Barker Found Guilty of Trousdale Estates Murder

Scott Joseph Barker was found guilty Tuesday for the July 2010 stabbing death of Katsutoshi Tony Takazato in Beverly Hills, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times also reported that Barker, 25, was convicted of two sentencing enhancements—lying in wait and using a knife in the commission of a crime.

Takazato was found dead about two years ago outside his father’s home on the 1800 block of Carla Ridge in the exclusive Trousdale Estates neighborhood. The murder scene was described by L.A. County Coroner Ed Winter as "very bloody."

According to the Times:

In closing arguments Monday, prosecutors portrayed Barker as a coward who waited in a Beverly Hills carport dressed in a black ninja-like outfit before stabbing Katsutoshi “Tony” Takazato 58 times with a kitchen knife, the final wound puncturing his heart.

The Los Angeles County district attorney alleged that Barker was driven to murder after learning that Takazato was leaning on Chie Coggins Johnson to do porn shoots and engage in prostitution to pay off his debts. Coggins Johnson, who had earlier dated Takazato, was Barker’s girlfriend at the time.

Coggins Johnson had been charged as an accomplice in the murder with Barker before being prosecuted under the theory of aiding and abetting. She later pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to five years' probation and a year already served in county jail. She had agreed to work with the prosecution in the case against Barker.

Barker faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Nov. 9. Prosecutors opted earlier not to seek the death penalty.

To read the Times article in full, click here.

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