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# Killer to stay in jail
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/killer-to-stay-in-jail/
- Published: 2007-11-23T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:16:56.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Crime, Venice, #archive-import

*State appeals court upholds guilty verdict*

*By Daily Press staff*

LOS ANGELES The Santa Monica resident convicted of fatally stabbing a taxi driver more than six years ago will be spending the rest of his life in prison after all.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the conviction of Antonio Barba for the first-degree murder of Keum Kim in the early morning hours of July 8, 2001, in Venice, rejecting defense claims that there were errors in the criminal trial.

Barba, 27, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Barba, who was 21 years old at the time of the murder, called for a taxi through the AAA Cab Company, then called right back to ask if the driver carried enough cash to make change. Barba then pulled a knife from his mother’s home and stabbed Kim, 59, more than 30 times before fleeing in an alley with the money.

An eyewitness recalled seeing Barba wearing a blue-hooded sweatshirt when he exited Kim’s cab and headed down the alley on foot. The sweatshirt was subsequently recovered and found to have between 12 and 14 hairs matching Barba’s DNA.

During the trial, Barba’s mother testified that she had a similar knife to the murder weapon and that it was missing.

The murder trial began in January 2004 and a mistrial was declared about a month later, when the second jury reached a guilty verdict but could not reach a decision on the count of robbery, which was subsequently dismissed.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 23, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)