Garden Grove man gets life for killing girlfriend
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A Garden Grove man convicted of killing his girlfriend with a lethal dose of cocaine was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, authorities said.
Shawn Lawrence Putansu, 29, was convicted in February of injecting Melissa Mitchell, 30, a criminal defense attorney, with the drug at her Laguna Niguel home in 2005. He then drove her car to Los Angeles, where he climbed to the roof of an apartment building and threatened to commit suicide.
In a phone call to another woman from atop the building, prosecutors said, Putansu admitted he had purposely killed Mitchell and intended to kill himself.
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