Killer Arrested In Santa Cruz Admits To Slaying Of Classmate

PLEASANTON, CA — A convicted murderer who was arrested in Santa Cruz for the killing of an East Bay teenager has admitted in a series of letters to fatally stabbing the girl as she walked home from school.

Steven Carlson's confession comes 36 years after the attack on Tina Faelz, 14, of Pleasanton and six years after he was convicted of first-degree murder. Carlson, then 16 years old, stabbed his Foothill High School classmate 44 times on her way walking home from school April 5, 1984. Tina, who had recently stopped taking the bus to avoid bullies, was found in a ditch adjacent to Interstate Highway 680, east of the school.

Carlson was a local transient in Santa Cruz County jail, facing drug charges, when he was arrested in connection with the slaying.

The confession was meaningful to Tina's family, said aunt Karin Reiff, who read Carlson's letters days ago.

"Even though I was sure he did it," Reiff said, "I was glad to hear it."

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news Thursday.

New Lead On Cold Case

Tina's case had gone cold, but investigators caught a break 27 years after the attack. A small amount of blood found on Tina's purse — which hung on a tree near the crime scene — matched the DNA profile of an inmate in Santa Cruz County.

Carlson was re-arrested and charged in 2011, and maintained his innocence. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder after a day of deliberation and he was sentenced in 2017 to spend 26 years to life behind bars.

Carlson tells a different tale now, in letters to parole commissioners, Tina and her family: One of a drunken and horrific attack that followed an abusive and difficult childhood. He called the attack callous in his letters and said he could not recall the stabbing motions, just looking down at her bloodied body.

The attack came on the heels of a drunken confrontation with a football player that ended with Carlson getting locked in a dumpster that was flipped over, he wrote. He headed home, drank more, spotted Tina and grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen, Carlson wrote.

Carlson said he would soon turn to meth and other drugs to “suppress the horrific murder I committed.” He started failing his classes and dropped out of school in 10th grade.

'You Wish You Knew A Little Bit More'

When Reiff first got word of the letters, she said she struggled to read them. This wasn't like the "Dateline" or "20/20" mystery shows she loved to watch; this was family. She avoided the letter for days before she worked up the courage to ask her boyfriend to print it out.

Then she became obsessed.

Reiff carefully studied Carlson's writing, marking it up with a highlighter and dissecting its contents with everyone she knew. The exercise only left her with more questions and preoccupied by "what ifs." She said it brought out a vengeful side of herself that she didn't like to see.

Reiff said she wondered: What was his motive? Is his remorse genuine? Did Carlson really toss the knife where he said he did, though police searched and never found a murder weapon?

Police had said that they didn't believe the attack was random when Carlson was first arrested, but the defense would later criticize prosecutors, arguing they couldn't prove a motive.

"It makes you wish you knew a little bit more," she said. "Mostly, I'm just going to try to put it behind me so that I don't dwell on it."

Instead, Reiff tries to focus her energy elsewhere. She has fond memories of her niece — memories that inspire her to keep in touch with loved ones despite the distance.

She said she remembers Tina as a sweet but "tough little girl" with a knack for sarcasm. Tina found solace in doing makeup and hair when she wasn't off being a jokester, playing ding-dong ditch in the neighborhood, Reiff said. Tina was remembered by classmates as a kind-hearted, freckle-faced, goofy teenager who loved soccer.

Tina didn't really know her father, but she had a bond with her mother and Reiff's sister, Shirley Faelz Orosco.

Orosco was consumed by her daughter's death and visited the police department on a daily basis, Reiff said, but she will never know of the confession or the outcome of her daughter's case. Orosco died unexpectedly on the day the trial was originally scheduled to begin for Carlson.

Though Reiff is sad to think of all that was lost when Tina was taken too soon, she is grateful for the supportive people of Pleasanton. After all this time, the community still cares about Tina's story and longs to see justice for her niece.

"It really did shake Pleasanton up, that's for sure," she said.

Past Pleasanton Patch coverage of Tina Faelz murder case:

• Steven Carlson Gets 26 Years to Life in Prison for 1984 Fatal Stabbing of Pleasanton Teen
• Steven Carlson Convicted of First-Degree Murder of Tina Faelz
• Mother of Murder Victim Dies Same Day as Murder Trial Was to Begin
• Steven Carlson Ordered to Stand Trial for the Murder of Tina Faelz
• Suspect in Tina Faelz Slaying Will be Tried as Adult
• Witness: Carlson Made Incriminating Comment The Day After…
• Friends, Relatives Leave Heartfelt Messages For Murder Victim Tina Faelz on Facebook
• Friends of Slaying Victim Tina Faelz Remember Her as Kind…
• Steven Carlson Pleads Not Guilty to 1984 Slaying of Tina Faelz
• Slaying Suspect Steven Carlson May Face Contempt Charges For Granting Jailhouse Interview
• Slaying Suspect Steven Carlson Gets New Attorney, Will Remain in Juvenile Court Until After the New Year
• Pleasanton Police Keeping DNA Evidence Quiet For Now
• Suspect in Tina Faelz Case Makes First Court Appearance
• Trial Continued for Suspect Accused in 1984 Murder of Tina Faelz

Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Patch editor Autumn Johnson contributed to this report.