Court proceedings reveal the confession by accused
A Santa Monica Police officer testified in court Tuesday that a local man accused of beating his father to death confessed to the crime.
When officer Ken Sempko responded to a 911 call made by Albert Victor White, 46, from his Santa Monica apartment on Feb. 5, White admitted to killing his elderly father, Pranas “Frank” Brazinskas.
Sempko testified in Santa Monica Superior Court that when he arrived on scene, he ordered White to come out of his apartment with his hands in the air.
“As he was walking toward me I asked him ‘what’s going on here,’” he said. “And (White) responded, ‘It’s bad, it’s real bad. I killed my dad.’”
“As he was walking toward me I asked him ‘what’s going on here.’ And (White) responded, ‘It’s bad, it’s real bad. I killed my dad.’” — — KEN SEMPKO Santa Monica Police officer
White appeared before Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Kamins Tuesday to hear the state’s evidence against him. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 21 at the courthouse near the airport. White, who worked locally as an accountant, appeared calm and motionless throughout the day-long proceedings.
White, who 32 years ago helped his father hijack a Soviet commercial jetliner to escape cold war-era Lithuania, is facing murder charges for allegedly bludgeoning his 77-year-old father to death during a struggle at the pair’s 21st Street apartment.
But defense attorney Jack Alex said White was acting in self defense. He argued Brazinskas had pointed a loaded handgun at White and threatened to shoot him. No shots were fired.
Alex said officers discovered a bag in the apartment that contained a 30 caliber revolver, a 38 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun and a 45 millimeter Uzi, or Tech-9 assault rifle.
All the weapons were later found to be loaded and cocked.
“The bag was open and I could see inside it with my flashlight — there were many guns and an assault rifle,” said SMPD officer Candice Cobarrubias, who first discovered Brazinskas’body. “Some were in the ready to fire position... I could see the hammers were pulled back.”
Los Angeles Deputy District attorney Ann Rundle described Brazinskas as a frail, helpless elderly man who was brutally bludgeoned to death by his son.
Stephen Scholtz, a Los Angeles County Coroner’s forensic pathologist, testified that there were seven blows to Brazinskas’ head made by a blunt object. The severest blow — dubbed the “death blow” — was made above Brazinskas’ left ear, which crushed part of his skull.
Scholtz said the blow, which caused bruising of the brain, could not have been made with a fist and was likely inflicted with a heavy object.
Detectives have not produced a murder weapon and White has not said what he used to allegedly kill his father.
Scholtz also testified that Brazinskas had an enlarged heart that was in the advanced stages of coronary heart disease, which would have limited his movements and made him extraordinarily weak. “(The condition) would have compromised his vitality substantially,” he said. “He would have been quite limited in terms of being physically active.”
In 1970, prosecutors say Brazinskas and his then 13-year old son, White — also known as Algirdas Brazinskas — hijacked an Aeroflot jetliner and directed the flight to Turkey.
During the flight, Soviet guards on board opened fire. Caught in the crossfire, a female steward was killed and the pilot and co-pilot were wounded. After the soldiers were subdued, the flight crew was still able to successfully fly the hijackers to Turkey.
There, the father and son were arrested, convicted of murder and sentenced to prison. But in 1974 they were released, only to be placed under house arrest.
The pair managed to escape custody and fled to the closest American embassy in Ankara to plea for political asylum. Although they were refused asylum in the United States, they have lived in the U.S. since 1976 without entry visas.
After a few years living in Queens, NY, the father and son moved to Santa Monica to live among the city’s large Lithuanian community. Since their dramatic escape from their home country, the pair has become heroes among Lithuanian expatriates living in America.
The pair’s history will play heavily in the trial, Alex said. He plans to call witnesses who will testify that Brazinskas was a violent man who ran a black-market gun business in Lithuania.
White remains in the Los Angeles County Jail on $1.2 million bail. He faces 26 years to life in prison, if convicted.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 8, 2002. Read the original PDF.