Sacramento man convicted in shooting death of co-worker
A Sacramento Superior Court jury Thursday convicted Pavel Postelnyak of first-degree murder in the May fatal shooting of Anthony Johnson.
The men worked as petition signature gatherers for Democracy Resources, and authorities said Postelnyak, 24, shot Johnson, 28, outside their office in the area of Auburn Boulevard and Garfield Avenue on May 18. Both were from Sacramento.
Deputy District Attorney Donell Slivka said there was no apparent motive in the killing.
“The defendant came to work with a loaded gun, and he came with the intent to kill,” Slivka said in an interview after the verdict.” We don’t know why he intended to kill. Sometimes, we don’t know what’s in the killer’s mind. Sometimes, people just choose to kill innocent, random victims.”
Judge Geoffrey A. Goodman scheduled Postelnyak’s sentencing for April 17.
Call The Bee’s Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141. Follow him on Twitter @andyfurillo.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated that Pavel Postelnyak was convicted of second-degree murder. We regret the error.
This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Sacramento man convicted in shooting death of co-worker."