Man sentenced for 2009 stabbing rampage

A homeless man was sentenced Monday, April 14, to life in prison for a 2009 stabbing death of another homeless man.

Domingo Linares Rodas, 58, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of Keith Falin.

Rodas, 58, was convicted in March of one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, with the special allegations that he had been lying in wait and used a knife.

On the afternoon of Aug. 6, 2009, Rodas stalked Falin until they were outside the Music Box theater in the 6100 block of Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, authorities said.

After Falin, 55, went to sleep, according to prosecutors, Rodas fatally stabbed him and in the following three and a half hours stabbed two other homeless men in the same area, where transients were known to sleep and socialize. All three victims suffered wounds to the left side of the chest.

Rodas was arrested two days later after a surveillance video appeared to show him holding a knife. A knife was recovered, and DNA evidence collected from it matched the three victims.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry sentenced Rodas to life without parole on the murder count and two consecutive life terms on the attempted-murder counts.

-- Ryan Menezes