Criminal
Aug. 15, 2002
Police Arrest Roommate in Professor's Murder
SANTA ANA - Police have arrested the roommate of Whittier Law School professor Joanne Stern for beating her to death last March, a Costa Mesa detective said Tuesday.
Edward Pierce Sansing, 67, was taken into custody at the Costa Mesa condominium where the pair had lived for eight years before Stern's death.
Sansing had been under suspicion since he telephoned 911 March 20 to report Stern's beating. The health law specialist died the next day at a Santa Ana hospital.
Police would not discuss a motive for the killing. But the roommates had a history of conflict, said neighbors, who recalled hearing the sounds of fighting from their condo unit. Costa Mesa Detective Sgt. Jack Archer said Stern called police to her home in February, but the call was determined to be unfounded.
Police did not release details of Stern's death. But a county death certificate obtained by the Daily Journal lists contusions and hemorrhaging of the brain, skull fracture, and blunt force trauma as the causes of death.
Stern also suffered a fracture of the hyoid bone, a flexible, u-shaped bone that covers the voice box and is hard to break, the report said. The fracture is listed as a contributing factor in her death.
Archer would not disclose what object, if any, was used in the beating. Nor would he elaborate on the events that led up to Stern's death.
The investigation was prolonged so forensic testing could be completed, Archer said.
"We wanted to be thorough and have the autopsy examined and medical reports examined by the coroner's office basically for forensic purposes," Archer said.
Connie Boudreau, Stern's neighbor and a member of the homeowners' association board, said Sansing had suffered two strokes and relied on a walker to get around.
The second stroke occurred after Stern's death, Boudreau said.
"He wasn't completely disabled," Boudreau said. "He would walk around with a walker."
Born in New York, Stern made her mark as a health law specialist, combining legal and public policy expertise.
Stern was one of the few women to earn a law degree from Yale Law School in 1971, graduating in the top 10 percent of her class.
After law school, she joined the National Health Law Program in Los Angeles.
From 1975 to 1977, she worked as a project attorney with the National Economic Development Project in Berkeley, drafting legislation and provided legal assistance for developing health maintenance organizations.
Later, she came back to the National Health Law Program as a senior attorney.
Before joining academia, Stern served as a special consultant to the state Department of Corporations, analyzing health and corporate law issues related to the licensing of HMOs.
At a memorial April 22 at Whittier Law School, colleagues and former students spoke of Stern's wit and inner strength.
When Stern learned that male colleagues were holding a weekly, no-women-allowed poker game in the school library, "her outrage was something to behold," Whittier Law School professor Gail Frommer recalled at the service.
"She was fighting her demons," Frommer said. "Sometimes, I thought they were winning."
"This is a real tragedy," Whittier College professor John Neu remarked. "We talked about the meaning of life. I will not have a friend of this sort again."
Sansing - gray-haired and wearing glasses - also attended the memorial but did not speak.
Detectives had not yet met with the Orange County district attorney's office, which will decide what charges to bring against Sansing. He is being held on $250,000 bail at the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.
Jenna Bordelon
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