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Haloa Beaudet, 18, of Carlsbad, admitted to fatally stabbing 68-year-old Lisa Thorborg on Nov. 23, 2020, at Hosp Grove Park. Courtesy photo
Haloa Beaudet, 18, of Carlsbad, admitted to fatally stabbing 68-year-old Lisa Thorborg on Nov. 23, 2020, at Hosp Grove Park. Courtesy photo
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Man gets seven years for woman’s stabbing death on Carlsbad hiking trail

CARLSBAD — A man who pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a 68-year-old woman on a Carlsbad hiking trail when he was 17 years old was sentenced today to seven years in prison.

The defendant, Haloa Beaudet, 18, pleaded guilty last month to a murder count in connection with the Nov. 23, 2020, stabbing death of Lisa Thorborg in Carlsbad.

While Beaudet was a minor at the time of the offense, Judge Richard Monroy previously released the defendant’s name and case details in December 2020.

Police and prosecutors have not disclosed a motive for the killing, but testimony indicated the victim was not robbed or sexually assaulted.

The seven-year term is the maximum term a defendant can receive in juvenile court, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

During a hearing held in late 2020, a detective testified that Beaudet’s DNA was found on Thorborg’s shorts, and that surveillance footage from the nearby area captured a boy resembling the defendant running away from the park about 15 minutes after police believe Thorborg was killed.

Lisa's Walk Hosp Grove Park
More than 100 residents participated in “Lisa’s Walk” on Nov. 28 at Hosp Grove Park in remembrance of Lisa Thorborg, 68, who was fatally stabbed in 2020. Photo by Steve Puterski

A pairs of flip-flops believed to belong to Beaudet was also found near the crime scene.

Surveillance footage and license-plate reader data also showed that the boy’s grandmother dropped him off near the park about an hour before the attack.

Police set up a camera in the park following Thorborg’s death that they alleged shows the boy venturing along the trail on multiple occasions after Nov. 23, often barefoot and carrying flip-flops.

Beaudet was contacted by police in early December and ran from officers, who took him into custody, at which point his DNA was taken, according to police.

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