White supremacist gang member convicted of fatal stabbing at Laguna Niguel bar

An admitted white supremacist gang member was convicted of murder Wednesday, more than four years after he stabbed a 22-year-old Iranian American man to death following an argument at a Laguna Niguel bar.

Jurors deliberated for more than two days before finding Craig Matthew Tanber, 41, guilty of second-degree-murder, along with a sentencing enhancement for the use of a knife, for killing Shayan Mazroei at Patsy’s Irish Pub over Labor Day Weekend in 2015.

Mazroei’s family members expressed disappointment that jurors did not convict Tanber of the first-degree murder charge sought by prosecutors.

“I think it’s not fair,” said Shahzad Mazroei, Shayan’s mother, outside the courtroom after the verdict. “I’m not happy with the result. We didn’t receive any justice.”

The family noted that jurors weren’t told of Tanber’s white supremacist affiliations or his history of violence, and believed Tanber’s attorney had wrongly painted Mazroei as an aggressor in the fatal confrontation. Mazroei’s parents recalled that their son had a tattoo of the Farsi word for “love,” reflecting his personality and his heritage.

“Our only son was senselessly taken away from us, and we will have to live with that void forever, replaying what was captured on video in our heads forever,” said Hamid Mazroei, Shayan’s father, in a written statement released after the verdict.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, jurors indicated that they were deadlocked regarding the more serious first-degree murder charge, leading the prosecutor to have it dismissed. Minutes later, the jury reached their second-degree murder verdict.

“Mr. Tanber will likely face the rest of his natural life in prison,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney said after the verdict. “He has proven to be a very dangerous person.”

That Tanber killed Mazroei was never disputed. Instead, his three week trial focused on whether the slaying was an intentional killing driven by anger or an act of self-defense.

Tanber had been out of prison for only three months when he killed Mazroei, having served time behind bars for his role in the slaying of a man who stole money from the former girlfriend of another white supremacist gang member. Prosecutors opted not to pursue a hate crime against Tanber for the Mazroei killing – despite pressure from groups such as the National Iranian American Council – determining there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant such a charge.

The fatal confrontation between Tanber and Mazroei actually began with an argument between Mazroei and Tanber’s then-girlfriend, Elizabeth Thornburg.

During the trial, Birney alleged that Thornburg made derogatory comments about Mazroei’s Middle Eastern heritage, while Deputy Public Defender Alisha Montoro countered that it was Mazroei who was rude to Thornburg after she asked him his name in order to determine how many people were between them on a pool table sign-up sheet.

Both sides agreed that the argument continued when Mazroei and Thornburg stepped outside the bar to smoke while Tanber used a restroom. Thornburg spit on Mazroei several times, the attorneys agreed, while Mazroei responded by spitting on Thornburg once. The defense attorney also alleged that Mazroei threw a lit cigarette at Thornburg.

Thornburg chased Mazroei back into the bar as Tanber exited the restroom, both attorneys agreed, and Mazroei got the attention of a bouncer he knew, who kicked Tanber and Thornburg out.

Other patrons and the bouncer testified that an enraged Tanber ranted outside the bar for more than five minutes, uttering a series of explicit racial epithets, making several mentions of having a knife and stabbing someone and saying Mazroei, who was still inside the bar, had disrespected him. Tanber’s attorney denied that he made any racial comments, noting that some of the witnesses had changed their stories over the years.

When the bouncer walked away to help a bartender, Tanber opened a door to the bar, motioned to Mazroei and yelled, “You!”

Tanber punched Mazroei in the face as he walked out the bar door, surveillance video showed. Mazroei was briefly knocked back, then moved toward Tanber again before suddenly staggering back into the bar and collapsing to the ground.

The prosecutor told jurors that Tanber had used a knife he was holding to stab Mazroei directly in the heart, then a second time in the back. Tanber’s attorney didn’t dispute the punch or stabbing, but said between the two Mazroei had struck Tanber.

Birney alleged that Tanber had prepared himself outside the door after calling Mazroei out of the bar, positioning himself and taking his knife out. Montoro said Tanber was afraid for his safety and stabbed Mazroei in self-defense.

Tanber fled after the stabbing. Police found him several days later at a Garden Grove motel. The knife used in the killing was found in shrubbery near the bar.

Tanber’s attorney declined to comment after the verdict.

In 2017, a Santa Ana jury in a civil trial found that Patsy’s Irish Pub was not at fault for Mazroei’s death. The jurors determined that Tanber should pay the bulk of a $6 million civil judgement to Mazroei’s family, though their attorneys’ have acknowledged that they are unlikely to actually receive a significant amount of money from Tanber.

Tanber’s latest criminal trial was delayed for several months over allegations that a sheriff’s deputy had a questionable relationship with an informant who helped with Tanber’s arrest. A judge in early July dismissed as unfounded the most serious allegations raised by Tanber’s attorney – that the deputy had a sexual relationship with the informant and ordered her to shoot Tanber up with heroin – allowing the case to proceed to the jury trial.

Thornburg is awaiting trial, having been charged with being an accessory after the fact to Mazroei’s killing. Prosecutors allege she drove Tanber away from the bar after the fatal confrontation. She has denied the charges.

Tanber was ordered to return to court for sentencing on Feb. 7. He faces up to 56 years to life in prison.