Joshua Graham Packer sat motionless in a California court on Friday as he was handed down three consecutive life sentences for the murder a wealthy pregnant couple in front of their children while attempting to rob the family's beach-front home.
The crime occurred on May 20, 2009. Packer was 20 at the time.
The prosecution said Packer had planned a robbery at the Faria Beach house, north of Los Angles, but ended up sexually assaulting mother-of-two Davina Husted, 42, who was six months pregnant, before stabbing her 30 times.
He then stabbed her husband, Brock Husted, also 42, about 20 times.
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Motionless: Joshua Packer, 25, sits in a Ventura County courtroom Friday as he is sentenced for the killing of Brock and Davina Husted in their Faria Beach home in 2009. He was given three consecutive life terms
Murdered: Affluent couple Brock and Davina Husted and their unborn child were stabbed to death inside their Faria Beach home on May 20, 2009
Seemingly safe: The Husteads lived in an exclusive gated community that had an active neighbourhood watch program; here, police block off the crime scene
The murders were witnessed by their then-nine-year-old son, who had ran to get cash from his mother's purse to give to the armed intruder.
But when he returned, the man was stabbing his parents with a kitchen knife in the bedroom, according to search warrants in the triple murder case released in 2010.
The boy told investigators his parents made the robber promise not to hurt him or his 11-year-old sister, who was sleeping, and the man agreed.
The boy said his parents ran toward their bedroom and the intruder followed. He heard his mother scream, then hid behind the living room couch until the man left.
The boy woke his sister and together, they checked on their parents' bodies.
The children then locked the bedroom door and escaped through a window to a neighbor's home.
Packer was armed and wearing a motorcycle mask during the attack.
The doors to the house were not locked when he burst in.
Evil: Joshua Packer, 24, was arrested in April 2010 after DNA linked him to the May 2009 stabbing deaths of Brock and Davina Husted. He is seen here in his arrest photo
Hunting for clues: Crime scene investigators found Packer's DNA at the scene. He was arrested in 2010
The case has sparked national interest, in part because Ventura County, California – otherwise known as the Gold Coast – is one of the safest neighborhoods in the country.
Packer was linked to the killings in 2010 by DNA testing of a sample taken following his arrest on suspicion of robbing a gas station in Santa Barbara County.
The sample matched DNA found on the visor of the motorcycle helmet used by the killer, prosecutors said.
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ShareThe children were in court Friday as Packer's sentence was handed down.
Now 25, he was initially facing the death penalty.
'I never believed there was evil in this world until the night of May 20, 2009 when my father and pregnant mother were brutally stabbed over and over again,' Isabelle Husted, now 16, said in her victim impact statement.
Packer's defense had argued he was physically and sexually abused as a child.
'I don't care what pain he went through as a child ... I have no pity,' Husted said.
'Joshua Packer has caused so much pain ... and nothing can replace moments I could've had with my baby brother.'
Gold Coast: The family lived in this beach house, which was later listed for $3.2million; Packer allegedly entered through the unlocked door
Packer did not speak at the sentencing because he thought it 'would be hollow and self-serving and detract from what the families have said today,' said Benjamin Maserang of the Ventura County public defender's office.
'He accepts responsibility for his actions,' Maserang told the Ventura County Star.
'He is relieved that his family and the victims' families will not have to go through the ordeal of a trial or any proceedings in this matter.'
Packer avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty in December to first-degree murder of the Husteds and their unborn child, a boy who was to be named Grant.
He also pleaded guilty to robbery and forcible oral copulation and was sentenced to 30 years and 4 months in prison in addition to the life terms.
Booming business: Mr Hustead, centre left, ran a wrought-iron business called Custom Couture, which afforded he and his wife, centre right, a very comfortable lifestyle
His lawyers said Packer had offered to take a plea deal in exchange for a life sentence for years. But the prosecution wanted to pursue the death penalty.
The deal finally was accepted after the California Supreme Court ordered a hearing on whether the top prosecutor, Mike Frawley, should be removed from the case because his children had spent time with Packer in a church youth group years ago.
Mr Husted ran a custom-design wrought iron shop that catered to high-end clients, an extremely lucrative business.
Mel Gibson and Oprah Winfrey were some of his clients.
Mrs Husted was a former Miss California contestant.
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