Overview
- Torrance Superior Court Judge John J. Lonergan Jr. imposed the sentence Friday, marking an end to a nearly eight-year ordeal for Susan Leeds’ family.
- A jury found Townsend guilty of first-degree murder with a weapon allegation in December 2024 after a week-long trial and roughly four hours of deliberation.
- Leeds, 66, was stabbed 17 times in her Mercedes-Benz SUV at the Promenade on the Peninsula; investigators said Townsend’s cellphone was discovered under the vehicle.
- Detectives reported GPS data showing the victim’s missing phone moving in the same general direction as Townsend’s car, while no murder weapon was found and no Leeds DNA was reported in Townsend’s vehicle.
- Townsend will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to begin serving her term, and her defense has not said whether it will appeal.