Convicted Murderer's 'Compassionate Release' Into RivCo Sparks Fury
Luis Barreto Hassan (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) BEAUMONT, CA — A former Cathedral City police officer who murdered hi...
Luis Barreto Hassan (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) BEAUMONT, CA — A former Cathedral City police officer who murdered his girlfriend in 1990 and tried to make it look like a suicide is being let out of prison early under California's new "compassionate release" law. Luis Barreto Hassan, now 78, was convicted in October 1997 of murder in the death of Kristina Lazzarini. He shot her in the head on her 27th birthday in Cathedral City. Now, nearly 26 years after the conviction, Lazzarini's family and Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin are dismayed that Hassan will be released from Chowchilla's Valley State Prison into the community of Beaumont.