California woman guilty in husband’s love triangle killing

BAKERSFIELD — Three years after her husband was found shot to death, a Southern California woman was convicted of murder after prosecutors said she conspired with her lover to kill him.

A Kern County jury on Thursday found Sabrina Limon, 37, guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to murder.

Robert Limon, a railroad worker, was found fatally shot near Bakersfield in 2014.

Prosecutors said Sabrina Limon conspired with former firefighter Jonathan Hearn in the killing so they could be together.

As part of a plea deal reached in January, Hearn, 27, agreed to plead no contest to counts including voluntary manslaughter in exchange for helping the prosecution of Sabrina Limon.

“Hearn saved his own butt,” Limon’s attorney, Richard Terry, said after Thursday’s verdict was read.

Terry argued throughout the trial that Hearn’s testimony — the only direct evidence against his client — could not be trusted.

During three days of testimony, Sabrina Limon acknowledged the affair but said she knew nothing of Hearn’s plan to kill her husband.

She also explained her failure to tell investigators about Hearn — even after they repeatedly asked if she or her husband had lovers — as an effort to preserve their reputations.

Prosecutor Eric Smith said the jury returned “a just result” and said he believed the evidence supported its findings.

Limon was found not guilty of attempted murder and of mingling harmful substances into food or drink, according to the Bakersfield Californian.

She could face 25 years to life in prison at her Nov. 3 sentencing.

Outside the courthouse, Robert Limon’s sister, Chris Wilson, said she was relieved the trial is over.

“It’ll never bring my brother back, but it will bring justice, and that’s what we’ve been looking for,” she said.