LOS ANGELES — A 75-year-old Pasadena man entered a no contest plea for attempting to kill a woman in 2017.
Lance Anthony Semkus entered the plea to one felony count of “willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder and admitted an allegation of using a knife as a deadly and dangerous weapon.”
Semkus will be sentenced to seven years to life in state prison as a result of the plea.
Semkus attempted to steal a woman’s dog in front of a pet store on Oct. 23, 2017. Later on the same day, Semkus approached another woman and slashed her throat, the prosecutor said. The woman fought him off but suffered severe injuries, the prosecutor said.
Investigators later discovered the defendant allegedly killed his two dogs.
Officials said the crimes were unprovoked and random with no apparent motive.
According to the Pasadena Star News, Semkus served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 to 1966, according to U.S. National Archives records. He then served as a Pasadena police officer from 1967 to 1971 and was a Burbank police officer from 1974 to 1977.
