A 61-year-old Laguna Niguel man pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter and was immediately sentenced to six years in prison for fatally stabbing his landlord and childhood friend nearly two years ago.
Steve Richard Gilbert, who was initially charged with murder, also admitted a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon in the Nov. 27, 2016, stabbing of 53-year-old Thomas Robert Marston.
Gilbert sobbed at times as Marston’s children told Orange County Superior Court Judge Karen Robinson how the killing affected the family.
Gilbert and Marston knew each other for about 30 years, Gilbert’s attorney, Isabel Apkarian, said. Gilbert was married to the victim’s sister at one point, Apkarian said.
Gilbert was renting a room in Marston’s house in the 29000 block of Palo Drive when the stabbing occurred.
The two had gotten into some sort of argument and were involved in a fight when Gilbert pulled out a knife and stabbed Marston.
Marston’s sons, Christian and T.J., were also living in the home. They said their father was having anger management issues at the time and there was a suspicion he had a brain tumor.
“My dad was a hard person to communicate with when he was angry, but he also had a kind heart and was a great dad when he was in a good mood,” Christian Marston said in a statement read to the judge.
“He would play games with us, we would watch football, play skip-bo, play basketball in the front yard, build things and just be boys,” he added. “He was always there to root for me at my football games and now I look and he isn’t there.”
Christian Marston said Gilbert is “a great guy and is kind, too.”
In his statement the son told the defendant, “Steve, I know you’re a good guy and I forgive you, but you have to face whatever the judge decides is coming to you and please do not try to contact me in the future.”
The victim’s mother, Linda Aaberg, said her son “could be wonderful and in an hour be a total jerk. He was very controlling and demanded the utmost respect from everyone.”
Marston’s mother said her son, as a landlord, was strict with tenants.
“Even though they were paying rent he treated them as though they were his property,” she said.
Aaberg said she “had no doubt Mr. Gilbert was defending himself,” and that the defendant “did his best for (her daughter) Erin and the boys. I have seen the bruises on my daughter’s arms from Tommy grabbing and shaking her, and holes punched in the wall when he was so angry he wanted to hit someone.”
TJ Marston said he believed his father had a brain tumor and “his behavior was becoming more and more erratic and started to put his hands on me. So Steve Gilbert would take the heat and protect me.”
TJ Marston characterized the defendant as “the kindest man I knew. He was my best friend and would never hurt anyone unless pushed to do so. I believe Steve did what he did because he was defending himself. He would never hurt Tommy because he loved him.”
The victim’s son added that the defendant grew up without his parents so he “would never wish that kind of pain and hardship on anyone, not even his worst enemy.”
TJ Marston said he believed the defendant had spent enough time behind bars and should be freed.
Marston’s daughter, Brittani Marston, said she understood that Gilbert may have had to defend himself, but he stabbed her father twice, not once. Also, if he felt he was in fear for his life he should have been making arrangements to live somewhere else before the tension built up to the conflict, she said.
“My father was a hard working, loving man,” she said. “He wasn’t always a saint.”
Gilbert, she added, “robbed us” of Marston.
“I do believe he has a good heart, however, it doesn’t change the fact that he took our father from us,” she said.
Gilbert had his attorney read a statement to the judge because he was too overcome with emotion.
“I’m so sorry for the devastation I’ve caused to your family,” Gilbert said. “You have my deepest sympathies.”
He added, “I love your family with all my soul.”