Dana Point Convicted Murderer Pleads Guilty In Cold Case Murder

DANA POINT, CA —Though 42 years have passed since a Laguna Beach man was found stabbed to death, this week a Dana Point man pleaded guilty to a count of voluntary manslaughter.

On Nov. 20, 1978, Brent Stapelton Tobey, 55, was found in his 1300 block of Carmelita Street bedroom. His roommate discovered Tobey's body in a pool of blood, according to the original police report.

Walter Lawrence Dalie—a 61-year-old convicted murderer and one time Dana Point resident—pleaded guilty Monday to a count of voluntary manslaughter as a jury was being selected for his trial.

This was the second time that prosecutors charged Dalie in the case of Tobey's slaying.

In 2002, Laguna Beach police revived the cold case investigation in 2002 into Tobey's death, and discovered DNA on the victim's clothes: a hair follicle with root evidence they sent to the Orange County Crime Lab for a DNA match. It wasn't until mid-2010, when Connecticut officials loaded some samples in its database, including Dalie's, according to Laguna Beach Police.

Prosecutors then extradited Dalie from Connecticut in 2011 but the case against Dalie was later dismissed, as two "critical witnesses had died" since his preliminary hearing, retired Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, who filed the original case, said in 2015.

Murphy said investigators needed to do a more detailed forensic analysis of evidence that at the time, the Orange County Crime Lab could not do, so the work had to be farmed out to another facility, which would take several months.

Dalie's subsequent refusal to delay his trial forced prosecutors to dismiss the case against him.

Dalie was due for release from Connecticut prison in July 2019. Instead, Orange County prosecutors again charged him, where he had awaited trial in Santa Ana, this time with a special circumstance allegation of having been previously convicted of murder and a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors and Dalie's attorney were in jury selection Monday when the plea bargain was struck.

So what happened that night of Tobey's murder?

The year was 1978.

Tobey, 55, lived in a home on Carmelita Street, with a roommate living in a rental unit on the same property.
Both he and his roommate, unidentified, planned to have a dinner celebration. A man who killed their friend the year before was at last convicted for the murder. When Tobey didn't show for their meal, his roommate sought him out and discovered the body.

According to police reports, Tobey was stabbed 17 times in the back, head, and chest.

Dalie knew the victim, according to reports from Laguna Beach Police Department. At the time of Tobey's murder, Dalie was a 19-year-old graduate of Dana Hills High School. The parolee was working as a gardener, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, who reports that Dalie knew Tobey was at home and broke in with the intent to rob the victim.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.