Chef found guilty in case of boiled body

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

A chef who told police he boiled his wife’s body for four days to hide evidence of her death was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder.

David Viens showed no reaction as the verdict was read. The sister of his victim burst out sobbing.

In a recorded interrogation presented by prosecutors during the trial, Viens, 49, can be heard saying he cooked the body of his 39-year-old wife, Dawn Viens, in late 2009 until little was left but her skull.

“He treated her like a piece of meat and got rid of her,” said Karen Patterson, the couple’s best friend who spoke to reporters outside court.

She was the key witness in Viens’ trial and the person who prodded police to investigate her friend’s disappearance.

At a news conference, she tearfully warned others to take heed of domestic violence among friends and call police. She apologized for failing to call 911 when Dawn Viens called her during an incident of abuse but begged her not to call police.

“Maybe you have to go beyond your friend’s trust and try to save lives,” she said.

Juror Tal Erickson said it was Viens’ own words in two confessions that convinced them of his guilt.

The chef spoke to authorities from a hospital bed in March 2011 after leaping off an 80-foot cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes. Authorities say he jumped after learning he was a suspect in her disappearance.

The trial relied heavily on recorded interviews with authorities in which the chef acknowledged the crime in detail.

“I just slowly cooked it, and I ended up cooking her for four days,” Viens could be heard saying on the recording.