Murder Trial Opens for Estonian Refugee

An Estonian refugee accused of killing a North Hollywood woman who had befriended him repeatedly stabbed her and then struck her on the head with a hatchet “just to make sure,� a prosecutor said in his opening statement Monday.

Peter Sakarias, 24, is charged with the July, 1988, murder of Viivi Piirisild, 52, with the special circumstance that the killing occurred while her home was being burglarized. He faces the death penalty if convicted. The death of Piirisild shocked the Estonian emigre community, which had welcomed Sakarias and Tauno Waidla, both defectors from the Soviet army. In March, Waidla was sentenced to death in the gas chamber for his part in the murder and burglary.

Sakarias had been sent to a state mental institution after he was found to be unable to cooperate in his own defense, but about a year ago the court found him competent for trial.