Community Corner
Parole Denied for Man Convicted in 1983 Killing
Ivan von Staich will spend at least five more years behind bars for a brutal attack on a former girlfriend and her husband.
A former Lake Elsinore man convicted of killing the husband of an ex-girlfriend in 1983 was denied parole on Friday, the Orange County Register reported.
Ivan von Staich, 57, had been stalking Cynthia and Robert Topper for several years before he cut the telephone wires outside the couple’s Santa Ana home on Dec. 8, 1983, and broke in.
Von Staich beat Robert Topper with a hammer and shot him multiple times in the head. He also beat Cynthia Topper and shot her in the stomach. Robert died and Cynthia was severely injured.
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After Von Staich was convicted and awaiting sentencing, he and another convicted murderer escaped from the Orange County Jail on Jan. 26, 1986. Von Staich’s freedom lasted a month until he was found by authorities in Massachusetts.
Von Staich was granted parole in 2011 but Gov. Jerry Brown reversed that decision. His next chance at parole will come in five years.
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