UCLA student died from exsanguination in January attack while working at Hancock Park furniture store, Corner reports
By Sam Catanzaro
An autopsy has revealed a UCLA student working in a Hancock Park furniture store was stabbed 26 times and died from exsanguination in a brutal January murder.
The victim, Brianna Kupfer of Pacific Palisades, was working at Croft House, a furniture business located on the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue, at the time of the murder on January 13. A graduate of both Brentwood High School and the University of Miami, she had been working on a degree in architectural design at UCLA.
The Los Angeles Police Department says Kupfer immediately had a bad feeling when Smith walked into the store.
“She sent a text to a friend saying there was someone inside the location that gave her a bad vibe. Regrettably, that person sees the text immediately,” said LAPD Lieutenant John Radtke in the wake of the stabbing.
Around 15 minutes later, a customer discovered Kupfer stabbed to death. A motive has not yet been determined for the stabbing.
On January 19, Smith was arrested by the Pasadena Police Department in the area of Fair Oaks and Colorado Boulevard. Smith, a homeless man, was charged with murder and the use of a deadly weapon in Kupfer’s death.
According to a report from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, Kupfer suffered 46 sharp-force injuries in the attack, including 11 stab wounds to the chest, two to the abdomen, one to the pelvis and seven to the arms. In addition, she also was cut in at least 20 places.
According to the report, Kupfer died from exsanguination, according to the autopsy, with her aorta, liver, lungs and stomach repeatedly penetrated by a blade, the Coroner reported.
