Man accused of killing handyman at Costa Mesa sober-living site in 2013 will stand trial

An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to move forward in the murder case of a man who previously was found mentally unfit to stand trial in the 2013 killing of a handyman at the site of a Costa Mesa sober-living facility.

Christopher Ernest Leovy, 40, was charged with one count of murder in 2013 and pleaded not guilty. A felony charge alleging battery on a peace officer that was filed as part of the original complaint was dropped Wednesday.

Leovy appeared in a Westminster courtroom Wednesday for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for him to go to trial.

John Kubat, 54, of Costa Mesa was found dead outside a vacant property at 536 Hamilton St. on Sept. 9, 2013. His body was concealed by a maroon comforter and other materials near a fence in the property’s courtyard, police said in court Wednesday. Nearby was a fire extinguisher that police believe was used to bludgeon him.

Kubat had been contracted to work on the renovation of the three-building complex in preparation for it opening as a sober-living home run by the Pat Moore Foundation, police said. The property previously had housed a similar facility where Leovy had once been a resident, investigators said.

Authorities have alleged that Leovy, who they believe became homeless after staying in the sober-living home, had a disagreement with Kubat before Kubat was killed.

A layer of white, powdered material — which a police witness testified was flame retardant — covered a portion of the courtyard and contained a shoe print.

Soon after the slaying, the Pat Moore Foundation reported a break-in at the property. This time, investigators said, they found a cellphone.

Leovy was arrested in Wilson Park on Sept. 11, 2013, in connection with Kubat’s death. Police said he ran when they tried to talk to him and struggled with officers when they caught up with him.

At the time of his arrest, Leovy was wearing dirty Nike sneakers whose original laces were replaced with cords of plastic seemingly fashioned from a bag, according to Costa Mesa police Sgt. Carlos Diaz, who testified Wednesday.

The investigation determined that Leovy had made calls to family members from the cellphone found at the Hamilton Street location, which prosecutors say belonged to the victim.

Witnesses said Wednesday that the shoe print in the courtyard matched the shoes Leovy was wearing at the time of his arrest. They also said shoe laces left in a bathtub in one of the unoccupied units appeared to match the ones missing from Leovy’s shoes. Investigators also pointed to fingerprints on the fire extinguisher and a coffee mug inside a unit that investigators believe tied Leovy to the scene.

Leovy’s attorney Joel Tamraz questioned whether the shoes and laces depicted in evidence photos could be conclusively determined to be the same shoes that Leovy surrendered when being processed at Costa Mesa city jail. He also speculated that the fingerprints on the coffee mug could have been placed by his client months earlier, when Leovy was a resident at the previous sober-living facility.

Owners of the Pat Moore Foundation said everything at the site had been purchased recently and was in new condition. Tamraz pressed an investigator on whether he had verified that with receipts for the items, including the coffee mug, and he hadn’t.

“There is nothing that can conclusively establish that he was there. ... It’s a nothing case,” Tamraz said. “[There] has got to be something better than this for it to go to trial.”

Despite the objections, Superior Court Judge Terri Flynn-Peister ruled there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial. Leovy’s next court date is Jan. 23.

Earlier court proceedings stalled when Leovy wouldn’t cooperate with court-appointed psychologists tasked with determining whether he was fit to stand trial.

The process dragged on for years until 2016, when two of the three appointed health professionals were able to meet with Leovy and declared him mentally incompetent for trial.

On May 23, 2016, Leovy was committed to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino for psychiatric treatment.

On Aug. 17, 2017, a state hospital medical director determined that Leovy was able to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings, and he was certified mentally competent, court documents show.

Leovy is in Orange County Jail with bail set at $1 million, according to jail records.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.