A 70-year-old man awaiting sentencing for fatally stabbing an elderly fellow resident in a care home in Anaheim pleaded guilty Friday to burning down his childhood home in Santa Ana.
Michael Carl Hallgren was convicted Dec. 20, 2023, of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a knife in the killing of 70-year-old Lucinda Louise Palma on Nov. 20, 2018.
Hallgren, who is expected to be sentenced for that case on March 21, was sentenced to 364 days in jail, or credit for time already served behind bars. He pleaded guilty Friday to a felony count of recklessly causing a fire of a structure. A felony count of arson of a dwelling was dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Hallgren set fire to his family home March 26, 2018.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue read a note from Palma’s daughter to Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger on Friday expressing her frustration in delays in the sentencing of Hallgren for the fatal stabbing. The daughter said every time there was a delay in the case, it was “traumatizing” to her.
Menninger said she was “sorry that this is distressing” the victim’s family.
Hallgren’s attorney, David Hammond of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, said the delays were unavoidable because there was a question of whether Hallgren was mentally healthy enough to assist in his defense. That forced a suspension of the proceedings to determine if his health could be restored enough to go on with his case.
“This was not deliberate on either parties’ behalf,” Hammond said.
“I agree,” Menninger said. “But I can understand the frustration of the family members. Everyone is anxious for this to move on.”
Hallgren’s fatal stabbing of the victim was “entirely unprovoked,” Orue said in the murder trial.
The defendant later told a detective that he wanted to “put her out of her misery” and acted because the “devil” made him do it.
The victim had issues with incontinence and “needed too much help” in the view of the defendant, Orue said.
“He decided it was time for her to go, so he picks up a butcher knife and stabs her in the throat over and over and over again,” Orue said.
Hallgren attacked her so violently that the handle of the knife came loose, Orue said.
Hallgren confessed to the attack during questioning in a clip of the interview played for jurors.
“I’m guilty,” he said in the interview with police. “I did the wrong thing.”
The two had rooms in an Older Adult Support and Intervention Services, or OASIS, board and care facility at 1268 N. Siesta St.
Another resident of the facility, Mojitaba “Mike” Mohebi, “heard a ruckus,” prompting him to go over to the kitchen and attempt to stop the defendant, Orue said.
The defendant told a detective, “I’ll put her out of her misery and the devil is saying go for it,” Orue said.
Hallgren, who robbed a bank in Los Angeles County in 1999, told the detective the “devil” also made him want to do the heist, Orue said. Hallgren pleaded guilty to the bank robbery and was sentenced to two years in federal prison in January 2001. He was ordered to pay $650 to Wells Fargo.
“You’re going to learn the defendant didn’t have a Hallmark movie life,” Orue said.
Hallgren’s mother died when he was 11, he has a low IQ and suffers from depression and anxiety, Orue said. His sister was a primary caregiver to him and when she died in March 2018, “that set things in motion” for his decline, he added.
Hammond argued in the 2023 trial that his client should have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Hallgren, who uses a wheelchair, was much more able-bodied at the time of the attack, but he was still feeling the effects of dementia and Parkinson’s disease, which were undiagnosed at the time, Hammond said.
Hallgren lived with his sister in the home he was born in and was dependent on her, Hammond said.
After she died, he attempted to kill himself by setting the home on fire, Hammond said. But he didn’t bank on how painful smoke inhalation and burns would be, so he made his way out of the house, which landed him in a hospital on a psychiatric hold, according to the attorney.
Hallgren had “difficulty” in a prior board and care, so he was moved to the one in Anaheim where the attack occurred, Hammond said.
On April 26, 2018, Hallgren made another suicide attempt by slashing his wrists, Hammond added.
County evaluations found him to be in “constant anxiety” and “unable to make life decisions,” Hammond said.
“Michael is childlike, a scared kid who lost his parents,” Hammond said.